Leo Kennedy was born on March 11, 1945 at Dr Kennedy’s Private Hospital in Cobram, the youngest of five children born to Laurie and Girlie Kennedy.
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The family comprised Dan, Teresa, Vin, Frances and young Leo, who lived on a 320 acre mixed farm on Cottons Rd.
Muckatah Primary School was situated on a corner of the property, and it was an easy walk for the school children who were mostly from the Noonan, Kennedy and Parnell families.
Leo began school at the age of four to lift the total number of students to 12.
He was an extremely bright boy, thanks to his four elder siblings, who taught him to read and write before he began school.
After just eight months in the classroom, he was promoted to grade two.
“Smart as a whip” was a constant comment from within Leo’s family.
Unfortunately, the school closed in 1954.
The Kennedy siblings went on the brand-new number 8 school bus to St Joseph’s Primary School in Cobram.
In 1956, the Olympic Games were held in Melbourne.
Leo journeyed with other students from St Joseph’s to the MCG to see the world’s finest athletes compete.
He recalls vividly the memory of the stadium filled with people watching Betty Cuthbert and Shirley Strickland win gold medals.
He was also fascinated to see pole vaulters in action.
Without a television set at home, Leo had never seen such an amazing sport.
Tragically for Leo, in 1956, his mum, Girlie, who had battled with multiple sclerosis for many years and become quadriplegic, passed away.
She had fought a devastating battle, which required around the clock care.
Young Leo was 11-years-old, and it proved a difficult time for the youngest of the Kennedy clan.
Leo attended St Vincent’s Boarding School in Bendigo for two years during 1958-59 until Year 10, when the father and son were, it appeared, not on the same page regarding Leo’s future career.
“We reached a deadlock regarding what I should do. So I came back home to work on the farm and my career just went bung,” Leo said.
Leo was put to work alongside his eldest brother Dan on the farm, while Vin became a contractor driving trucks.
A year later, Leo, at the age of 16, went to work at Adams and Son general store, which was later purchased by Coles.
Working in menswear alongside John Mentha and John Mantovani, both of whom went into business for themselves, Leo also worked with Bill Ellerton.
At this age, Leo noticed many displaced Europeans were arriving in the district.
They were friendly and worked hard, bringing with them new skills and a willingness to learn about the Australian way of life.
“I found them to be such good people and while I couldn’t always understand them, I soon learnt to,” Leo said.
Leo was particularly taken by young Italian girls of his age. Such beautiful long dark hair and eyes, they looked quite exotic.
“They would smile and give a shy hello but were not permitted to talk to us,” he said.
“I was told they would not be allowed to go out on a date, they were too young and their parents, particularly their fathers, were very protective.”
The Kennedy property was a mixed farming enterprise comprised of a good-sized herd of sheep and crop growing.
They also put in a dairy for their small number of Jersey and Friesian cows.
Murray Goulburn founding director Bob Ennals encouraged them to increase their herd to 120 cows and gain the benefit of the strong milk prices offered by MG.
The introduction of irrigation in the region changed farmers’ lives dramatically.
The family had purchased an additional two blocks by this time, one of which Dan took over, while building a house for his wife Helen and family, while Vin worked the other block.
After Laurie Kennedy passed away in 1982, Leo took over the farm.
He and his wife Jenny built a home and raised their family of three sons, Nick, Sam and Ben.
Jenny was an arts and textile teacher at Cobram High School.
Hugely talented, she could turn her hand to anything creative, including gardening, winning the Shire Best Farm Garden on one occasion.
During the 1980s, a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in Jenny several, years earlier, began to progress rapidly.
By 1992, Leo took over as her full-time carer.
Jenny was an amazing, vibrant person who bravely handled her MS to the point where she and Leo would travel to Albury on a weekly basis for some self-taught physio, which helped her considerably.
Leo was completely devoted to his wife and cared for her unselfishly until she passed away in 2004.
Cars became a passion for Leo.
He was a self-confessed ‘petrol head’ and would often attend motor racing at Winton, with a highlight of the motor racing calendar a 12-Hour Sportscar meeting at Surfers Paradise.
There, Leo got himself a job one year refuelling a car driven by Paul Hawkins, a former Formula 1 driver and Jackie Epstein.
The car was a T70 Mark 111 Chevrolet.
Leo’s first car was a Model A Ford utility, while today he is the proud owner of a stylish Swedish SAAB 9-3 Convertible.
“(It’s) my pride and joy,” Leo said.
Retired for some years, Leo celebrated his 80th birthday with a grand party in March with his family, including his three successful sons, their partners and eight grandchildren.
He is a good friend to many, a passionate Collingwood supporter, loves a good red wine, a good book and catching up with his family and long-term friends.
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