Walter L. Kendall, leaves a lifetime of accomplishments and good deeds
Walter Kendall's memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on May 30 at the Lemoore Presbyterian Church.
And one of the many things he did over and over, for at least 15 years, was to drive the civic parade circuit on his Tin Lizzy, his long legs hanging over the sides of the miniature Shrine car, as parade-going kids screamed with joy.
His birth in Coco Solo, Panama, to a family headed by a dad who was a Navy battleship crew member guarding the Panama Canal, was unusual, but was only the first life adventure which included RV’ing with several Valley Clubs, 25 years of golf, most at Lemoore Golf Course, as a 4th member of the light-hearted “Bogie Boys.” (Even after all those golf shots, some good, he never joined an elite hole-in-one-group.)
While he and Trish rode motorcycles, he became a licensed pilot of much smaller planes than those he served with during his four years in the Air Force. But at 6’4”, Walter had no trouble expressing his love of America. He retired from AT&T in the Bay Area in 1991, allowing time to serve his Lemoore community.
He became a member of Lemoore Presbyterian Church in June 2021, joining with Trish, a longtime member of the Stratford Church under the family name of Riden.
Perhaps the most unusual activity of the pair, daughter Sharon, and other close family members, was starting and managing the “Community Thanksgiving Dinner,” which at its close in 2019 served free meals to 2,500 hungry locals and grew to offer free turkey to Avenal, Huron, Kettleman City, and more hungry people from, at first, the Masonic Lodge.
Walter and Trish were united in 1960, a marriage that lasted for 57 years. Survivors include daughter Sharon Kendall-Farrar of Armona, son Scott Kendall of the Bay Area, granddaughters Lexie Gault, Katherine Sippel, Elizabeth Farrar, and Brooke Kendall, four great-grandchildren, sisters Jackie Williams and Phyllis Hunt, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Walter L. Kendall will be interred in Lemoore Cemetery.
