Hugh A. Kennedy in a letter to his brother George

A True Mentor

Family, patients and community were of the utmost importance to Dr. Hugh A. Kennedy and his wife, Margaret. Although the Kennedys had no children and are deceased, their legacy has had a powerful impact on these three areas of interest.

Hugh was the third of 10 children of J.E. and Mary Kennedy who were born at home in Plymouth, Wisconsin. J.E. held several posts in state government, including fire marshal and insurance commissioner, and he lived primarily in an apartment in Madison to be near his work. Mary and the children remained in northeastern Wisconsin, where Hugh graduated from Oshkosh State Teachers College in 1930. After teaching at Appleton Senior High School for several years, Hugh realized he wanted to become a doctor and applied to the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine. He was accepted, moved in with his father and quickly became president of his medical class.

Hugh loved the University and encouraged his brothers to follow him to Madison. Brother Charles would earn his law degree in 1936, and brothers James (’43 BS, ’45 MD), George (’45 BS, ’47 MD) and Ralph (’48 BS, ’50 MS MED) would later become physicians after Hugh earned his MD in 1938.



Margaret and Hugh Kennedy in 1960.

The next big changes would come for Hugh in 1940. He accepted a position with a private firm that was building naval air fields in Corpus Christi, Texas, for the U. S. government in preparation for entry into World War II. Hugh’s primary task would be to repair hernias and injuries to construction workers building the government facilities. When he taught in Appleton, he had met and dated Margaret Thompson, who was a secretary at the school. He asked Margaret to move to Corpus Christi and marry him; she accepted, and they remained there for the 54 years of their marriage.

In 1941, Hugh entered the U.S. Army and was sent to a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit in England to prepare for the invasion of Normandy. “He was under fire many times and worked excessively hard and long,” said brother George. Hugh continued to travel with the front line across Europe until V-E Day, and he anticipated being sent to the Pacific. Fortunately, the war ended before he could be deployed.

Hugh returned to Corpus Christi and began private general practice. A devout Roman Catholic, Hugh affiliated with the Christus Spohn Hospital and, eventually, became chief of staff.

Hugh and Margaret enjoyed playing golf together weekly and attending family reunions in Wisconsin, where they stayed connected to the growing Kennedy family of health- care professionals. Several of Hugh’s brothers had children who followed them into the medical field, and the family legacy continues today.

“I knew I wanted to do something with medicine, people and science,” said Erika Smith (’06 PharmD). Erika is Hugh and Margaret’s great-niece. “My parents were both children of physicians, so I think they had an interesting perspective in helping me decide what I wanted to do.” Erika is a practicing pharmacist at Froedert Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Hugh and Margaret’s estate gifts to the School of Medicine and Public Health have enlarged the Kennedy family of physicians even more. Students from the Kennedy’s adopted hometown of Corpus Christi are given preference when applying for the Kennedy Foundation Medical Student Scholarship.

Selected in 2005, Heather Peto is one of the first Kennedy Scholars. She has used her Spanish speaking skills to take advantage of opportunities to be a Global Health Fellow with the World Health Organization, participate in a community health assessment in Ecuador and work as a volunteer in a Madison medical clinic. Heather is a third-year medical student and currently a fellow with the Centers for Disease Control Division of Tuberculosis Elimination in Atlanta, Georgia. She will spend one year at Johns Hopkins University before returning to the UW to finish her medical degree in 2010.

“I am very thankful, beyond words, to the Hugh A. Kennedy Foundation for giving me the financial freedom to think critically and broadly about the kind of physician I want to become and to take purposeful steps to pursue that training without the restrictions of looming debt,” Heather said. “I am now able to add a public health component to my medical school curriculum so that I can address the health of both individuals and communities. There is no way to tell the Kennedy Family and Foundation how much their gift means to me.”

Christina Mireles of Kingsville, Texas, is the most recent addition to the family of Kennedy Scholars. “I forced myself to believe that I could make a better life for myself by acquiring as much knowledge as possible,” Christina said. Her father left the family; her mother struggled financially, and Christina’s drive to excel academically became an escape. Christina was asked to spend a summer with her aunts to help care for one who was experiencing complications of Type II diabetes. The women encouraged her and gave her confidence.

“You can have all the motivation in the world, but you can’t do everything on your own,” Christina said. “I wouldn’t be here today had it not been for the support of my aunts, friends and teachers. This scholarship is just another example of the support I gratefully accept in order to achieve my lifelong goal.”

“Most of all, this tremendous gift has inspired a renewed and energized desire to pursue charity and service,” said Christopher Seebruck, a Kennedy Scholar since 2005. “The result will be in the impact of their single gift extending far beyond a single person to those that I have been able to help as well.”

“It is very rewarding to see the reflection of Dr. Kennedy’s life in these medical school students,” said Martin Davis, president of the Hugh A. Kennedy Foundation.