CLIFTON PARK — The life of Verna Brown Somers Kennedy reads like the great American novel. From surviving the Great Depression and owning a Model-T Ford, Mrs. Kennedy went on to see the first credit cards used and was able to watch the most important thing in her life grow — the family who loved her.

Following a lengthy illness, she died on April 17, 2007, at Schuyler Ridge Residential Health Care. She was 98.

Since Mrs. Kennedy was a caretaker her entire life, her family did not hesitate when it was her turn to be cared for.
"I really miss her so much. It’s like a big black void not having her around," said her daughter, Patricia Kennedy. "We would go for rides together and every time any of my friends would come over they would say, ‘Where’s your mother"’ Everybody just adored her."

Born on the Fourth of July in 1908, in Albany, to the late Jason and Mary Somers, Mrs. Kennedy was a proud descendant of the Rev. Peter Nicholas Sommer, the first permanent Lutheran minister to New York.
"She used to think her father took the day off of work just for her birthday when she was really little and that she was the most special little girl around," Patricia Kennedy said of her mother. "She didn’t know it was a holiday."
Patricia Kennedy said that her mother, a long-time Guilderland resident, was a woman who "overcame trepidation" her whole life and had a "powerful will to live." Mrs. Kennedy nearly died as a teenager and was the widow of the late John P. Kennedy, who died in 1966.
"She overcame a ruptured appendix at the age of 15 and her family was surrounding her bed by her side. They thought she was going to die," said Patricia Kennedy. "Then she woke up and asked why everyone was around her, crying, and went on to live for nearly 99 years."

As a graduate of Albany High School, Mrs. Kennedy began working when she was 16 in the payroll department of Williams Press in Albany. After marrying, she stayed at home for 10 years to raise her daughter, and then returned to work in retail. First she worked as the assistant credit manager at Denby’s and then later worked as a credit manager at Wells and Coverly, both department stores in Troy.
"She was around for the first credit cards when they used to notch them by hand," said Patricia Kennedy. "She had a Model-T Ford and lived through the Depression"She was like a walking history book."

During the time Mrs. Kennedy was a credit manager, she was an officer in Credit Women’s International. She left retail credit for the payroll department at the New York State Department of Health, from which she retired in 1975.
"When she retired from the state, they had a big party for her and gave her a music box that played Shadow of Your Smile. She loved that song," Patricia Kennedy said about the 1965 Tony Bennett song. "She listened to it all the time."

Mrs. Kennedy suffered from a paralyzing stroke three-and-a-half years ago, but Patricia Kennedy said her mother would not give up.
"After the stroke, they said she would never talk again"but I decided that she would talk again," she said. "She and I would go for rides together all the time; she liked going for rides. We would stop at Dunkin’ Donuts every time because she just loved their coffee."

Patricia Kennedy said she would leave the television on with captions so that her mother could read the words as she watched the news and her favorite shows like Law and Order.
"I kept doing that and then, one day, I went out and got some coffee and put a cup on her tray in front of her. She looked up at me and said, ‘Dunkin’ Donuts.’ I couldn’t believe it. I just thought ‘Thank God, I knew she was still with us," said Patricia Kennedy.

On the way to Mrs. Kennedy’s funeral service, her daughter and other family members and close friends stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts and used coffee to toast the woman they all knew and loved.
"I think she would have really liked that if she saw it," Patricia Kennedy said. "She would have been very proud and honored I think, and she would have gotten a big kick out of it, too."

Mrs. Kennedy was a very gentle yet strong mother, said her daughter, Patricia.
"She’s such a great mother. She was so gentle and kind, yet strong and assertive, but she was never overbearing and always supportive," said Patricia Kennedy. "We used to say she went to college with me. She went to every single play, to everything really. She saw me at every school I went to, no matter where it was.
"I still look back and say ‘Boy, how’d she do all that"’"
In a tribute to Mrs. Kennedy, her family wrote, "Verna lived a long and full life, remaining alert to the end, and always deeply interested in the people and events of her world and beyond, and delighted by animals. She was a loving wife and mother, always loyal to family and friends.
"What will surely remain in the memories of her daughter and all who loved her is her powerful will to live, and her beautiful smile that lit her eyes and warmed us all."

Patricia Kennedy said that her mother’s curiosity and love of the news never faded.
"She loved to watch the news and she always read The Altamont Enterprise every single week," her daughter said. "She used to read it cover to cover because she said she couldn’t find those stories anywhere else."

Patricia Kennedy said her mother will be deeply missed by everyone who knew her.
"I don’t know anyone who didn’t love her," she said. "She always said to take good care of the people you love while they’re here, and then you’ll be able to move on."

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Mrs. Kennedy is survived by her daughter, Patricia Anne Kennedy, of Clifton Park; her nieces, Jacqueline Savoca, Sue Bushey, Carol Hoefer, Nancy Reaulo, and Linda Wilson; her nephews, Donald, Thomas J., Wellington Jr., James, and Gerald Somers and her close friend and caregiver, Ann Marie Leifer.

In addition to her husband, John, her sisters, Mildred Wallace and Gladys Walter; brothers, Merton and Wellington Somers; and two infant siblings, died before her. Molly, the cat she loved, also died before her.

A funeral service was held Saturday, April 21, at the Bowen Funeral Home in Latham, with interment in St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 4 Northcrest Dr., Clifton Park, NY 12065; the Schuyler Ridge Resident Council, 1 Abele Blvd., Clifton Park, NY 12065; or to the Animal Protective Foundation, Inc., 53 Maple Ave., Scotia, NY 12302.