Robert S. Kenney, Jr.

Robert S. Kenney, Jr., 80, passed away peacefully, after a long illness, at his home on Sunday, September 6, surrounded by his family.

Son of the late Robert S. Sr. and Dorothy A. Kenney, he was born in Riverton, NJ, on January 30, 1935, and was a lifelong resident of Riverside.

He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years Emma (Copper), along with six children and their spouses: Robert (Susan), David (Lisa), Stephen (Shelly), Warren (Barbara), Nancy (Scott Ellis), Edward (Joelle). He also leaves to cherish his memory 16 grandchildren: Bob, Shaun, Colleen, David Jr., Tim, Dawn, Austin, Joseph, Destiny, Matthew, Tricia, Rachel, Corey, Tammy Jane, Andrew and Matthew, as well as 17 great-grandchildren: Christina, Riley, David III, Thomas, Andrew, Riot, Robert, Ashley, Makayla, Noah, Ashlyn, Bryce, Logan, Savannah, Garison, Caleb and Lillian.

Robert is the brother of the late Dorothy, Joseph, and Joan and is also survived by sister Julia (Vincent) Carey & several nieces and nephews.

As a youngster, Kenney endured a number of family tragedies, including the death of his sister Dorothy and brother Joe at early ages. The son of florists, Kenney instead chose the path of sports journalism and enjoyed an extremely successful career at the local, regional and national levels.

Kenney began his journalism career with the Riverside Press in the 1950’s and moved on to the Mount Holly Herald (under the pen name Lenny Jerome) and the Burlington County Times, where he eventually became Sports Editor. In 1963, Bob began his career at the Courier-Post, where he worked for 36 years, until his retirement in 1999. For 22 of those years (1971-1993) he held the position of Sports Editor. It was during that time, he enjoyed the most success professionally.

While working as a beat writer for the Phillies, he was employed as an Official Scorer by Major League Baseball and scored more than 2,500 games, including several playoff games, World Series games, two all-star games and a no-hitter. He worked Phillies games in three different stadiums (Connie Mack Stadium, Veterans Stadium and Citizens Bank Park) for 45 years before retiring in 2008. In addition to writing for the Courier-Post, he also wrote nationally for United Press International (UPI) during that time and earned Lifetime (Gold Card) status as a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He was a voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame for more than 40 years.

Baseball was not the only sport he covered. He had numerous Super Bowls, championship boxing matches and some of the most prestigious track meets in the country to his credit, including following some of the great Villanova track teams of the 70’s and 80’s.

Kenney was also known for his career covering Olympic Games all over the world. In all, he covered seven different Olympics. In 1976, he bragged about covering Nadia Comaneci’s “Perfect 10” at the Summer Games in Montreal and he witnessed the “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid in 1980. He watched Carl Lewis win four gold medals in Los Angeles in 1984 and wrote about the sad state of Yugoslavia in Sarajevo at the Winter Games of 1984. In 1988, he traveled to both Calgary and Seoul, Korea. His 1992 experience in Barcelona featured a story about getting stuck in the metro after midnight the night of the Opening Ceremonies. Other Olympic memories included covering speedskaters Eric Heiden and Dan Jansen, along with the sheer excitement of watching the world’s best athletes representing their countries coming out the tunnel for the Opening Ceremonies.

Kenney was a member of the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association for 50 years, serving as Treasurer for 46 years. During that time, he was instrumental in planning the annual awards banquet.

In addition to winning a number of awards as a writer and editor, he made his mark in the South Jersey sports world as the emcee of hundreds of banquets and presented countless awards to athletes of all levels from all walks of life.

While at the Courier-Post, Kenney established a new standard for coverage of girls’ sports. He is widely recognized as a pioneer, well before Title IX. Some of his biggest accomplishments included recognizing equal numbers of girls and boys on area all-star teams and founding such organizations as the Field Hockey Club of South Jersey and the Girls Basketball Club of South Jersey. He earned accolades and awards for his department’s scholastic sports coverage.

In addition to being entrenched in the South Jersey sports world, Kenney was active in his community. He was past president of the Riverside Historical Society, Vice-Chairman of the Riverside Township (Land Use) Planning Board and on the Board of Directors for the Riverside Township Public Library.

He was an active member of St. Peter’s Parish in Riverside and, most recently, was a member of Resurrection Parish, where he attended St. Casimir’s Church daily. Kenney served his parish and community as an ordained Eucharistic Minister. In addition, he was active with the March of Dimes and the Holy Name Society.

He was recognized as the local historian and authored two books about the town he grew up in: Progress: 150 Years of Progress: The History of Riverside, NJ and Remembering: 155 Years of St. Peter’s Parish in Riverside, NJ. If anyone needed a question answered about Riverside High School or someone from town, Bob Kenney was the man to ask.

As a coach, Kenney enjoyed tremendous success in a number of sports over the years. He began coaching youth sports teams for Riverside PAL while still a high school student at Camden Catholic. He coached hundreds of local youngsters in St. Peter’s CYO and Riverside PAL. He was one of the first area coaches to take a youth team on an overnight trip as he took a St. Peter’s Little League team to Canada for a home-and-home series with a Toronto parish in 1970. He taught dozens of local boys and girls the right way to play the game of baseball, while hosting Wednesday morning baseball clinics that were open to all-comers.

Kenney enjoyed a long career as a football coach that started in the 50’s with the Burlington County Football Club and he also coached youth football teams in the 90’s that featured some of his own grandchildren for Little Green Football and helped coach grandchildren with the Riverside Wrestling Club. He also was well known for two stints as a championship coach in the Rancocas Valley Semi-Pro Baseball League with the Riverside Bombers and again with the Pirates Inn. In the 80’s, he led the All-Star Trophies team to multiple championships in the Women’s Fastpitch League of South Jersey, which would be the softball equivalent to the RVL. In a pinch, he even coached the Holy Cross swim team to a championship in the school’s early years.

With the assistance of the Phillies organization, he introduced hundreds of young baseball fans and parents to their first – and sometimes only – live Major League game.

He was a past member of the South Jersey Umpires Association and was even a Major League Baseball scout with the Detroit Tigers.

As a journalist and contributor, Kenney was enshrined in multiple Halls of Fame, including: the Riverside High School Hall of Fame, the Camden Catholic High School Hall of Fame, the Riverside PAL Hall of Fame, the Burlington County Track Hall of Fame, the Field Hockey Club of South Jersey Hall of Fame, the Girls Basketball Club of South Jersey Hall of Fame, the South Jersey Wrestling Hall of Fame, the South Jersey Football Hall of Fame, the South Jersey Track & Field Hall of Fame, the South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame, the Boys Basketball Club of South Jersey Hall of Fame, the South Jersey Sports Hall of Fame and the Camden County Sports Hall of Fame.

Awards he received over the years included: the Philadelphia Sportswriters Association Man of the Year award, the New Jersey Sportswriters Association Man of the Year award, the Riverside Township Citizen of the Year award, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Coaches Man of the Year award (presented at the Final Four in San Antonio in 2002), the Penn Relays Service Award, as well as the South Jersey Invitational Tournament – Girls Basketball Team Championship Trophy and the dedication of the Riverside High School Baseball and Softball Field being named the “Bob Kenney Field.”

Since retiring in 1999, he enjoyed spending time along the sidelines at Riverside High School sporting events and became the school’s unofficial historian and statistician for several sports. For more than ten years, he didn’t miss a girls basketball or football game.

Recently, he enjoyed reuniting with his Camden Catholic classmates for monthly luncheons, as well as frequent lunch meetings with a group of South Jersey sports legends,which included more than a dozen Hall of Fame coaches and journalists.

In addition to his successful public life, Kenney enjoyed a personal side, spending time with what he called his “greatest legacy,” the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren he shared with the love of his life.