Peter Jay Kennelly

On Sept. 15, 2024 a beloved son, brother and uncle left this world to join his father and grandparents.  

Peter Jay Kennelly was born on June 9, 1969 in Omaha, Neb. to parents Barbara J. DeMot (Bellevue, Neb.)  and Lee DeMott Kansas City, Mo.). After a number of years of illnesses he left this world in Robbinsdale, Minn.. Peter was proceeded death by his adoptive father Harry Russell Kennelly and grandparents Sammie J. and Letha Betty Brown, Thomas O. and Doris Lorraine Kennelly, (Bloomington, Minn.)great-grandparents Rufus Oscar Brown and Callie Otis Brown of Comanche.  

Peter met his adoptive father Harry Russell Kennelly and played the role of cupid between his mother and Harry when he was four years old. It was a relationship and a love built around a color TV and Saturday morning cartoons. Harry and Mom were married one week after his fifth birthday. Harry was in the Air Force and soon after the parents marriage, they were sent to Turkey. Peter spent 30 months trying to teach his Turkish friends his version of baseball while learning their version of soccer. When they returned to the states, it was to Alamogordo, N.M., where Pete learned about computers, chemistry and played t-ball. While living in Alamogordo, Harry adopted Peter and Peter became Peter Jay Kennelly. When Harry received orders to Korea, Mom decided that Peter and Stephen needed to be around family.  They moved to Comanche to be close to great-grandmother Callie Brown, Aunt Cynthia Brown Gilliand and the oodles of cousins that live in the Comanche, Empire area. Peter graduated from Comanche Hight School with the class of 1988 where he was involved in the drafting program at the Red River Vo-Tech.  He then attended Cameron University at Lawton for three semesters, before he joined the Army as a light infantry armorer/anti-tank dragon missile with the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, N.Y. and received his Ranger tab. 

While at Fort Drum he met his former wife Jennifer Nelson, married and resided in Mont Blanc, Mich. They divorced three years later. There were no children from the marriage. He moved back to Comanche, living with his grandparents and worked for Family Dollar Warehouse/Distribution Center and Wal-Mart.  In 2005 he moved to the Minneapolis and went to work for Holiday Stations Stores and attended DeVry University for computers and later worked for Boston Scientific on the assembly line. After becoming seriously ill, he no long was able to work. After many years of illness he passed away at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minnesota.

Peter is survived by his mother Barbara J. Kennelly (Robbinsdale, Minn.), his brother Stephen J. Kennelly (Emily, niece Elizabeth and nephew James) of Wamego, Kan., half-sisters Tammy DeMott Witworth, Kelley DeMott Dygert, Pamela DeMott, half-brothers - John Pennington, Michael DeMott and Gregory DeMott  and father Lee DeMott of Huntsville, Ala. and numerous aunts, uncles and many cousins.  

At Peter’s request he will be cremated and his ashes will be interred at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in St. Paul, Minn. He only wished for a very simple gathering. He stated that he was not a person who wanted a lot of “pomp and circumstances” - just a firing squad, “Amazing Grace” played on the bagpipes” and taps.  He will be joining his father, his grandfather, great-grandfather and great uncle at Fort Snelling as the fourth generation to have proudly served his nation.