Jerry
Kenefick is another of our members who gives unstintingly of his time and
talents and brawn to keep our games running smoothly. For years he has hauled
tables and other equipment to and from our Sectionals, and helped set up.
Recently he passed his Director’s test, and he has already successfully directed
one game as a substitute director. He will be directing two more games this
month. Jerry was a member of the Ashland Board before the club was sold, and he
is volunteering to be on the Unit Board in the future. When asked what will
attract new members to our games, Jerry opines that the game must be "fun and
welcoming." He will make sure, he states, that proprieties are enforced at all
duplicate games he directs.
Jerry was born in Los Angeles and spent his childhood there. He graduated
from Loyola University in Chicago with a major in English. He was a member of
ROTC in college and went directly to serve in the Air Force after he received
his degree in 1959. He served for nine years in the Air Force. Jerry tells an
interesting story about how his plane was shot at and damaged during the Vietnam
War. The news was expanded on by each successive reporter until the radio
announced that all members of the crew, including Jerry, were killed. They were
wrong!
In 1960, Jerry married his best friend, Beverly, and they were married for
forty-four years until Beverly passed away eighteen months ago. Jerry and Bev
met while in grade school and never dated throughout their school years. Jerry
simply announced one day after college that he was in love with Beverly, and the
two were married three months later. They have one son, Sean, and a daughter,
Kellee, and a granddaughter, Riley, who is 13 years old. Sean, who is unmarried,
lives in Talent and has taken over the tax business from Jerry, who has elected
to pursue other interests. Kellee is a mortgage banker in San Juan Capistrano.
Jerry is fulfilling a vow that he and Beverly made to see their granddaughter
every ten weeks since the day of her birth.
After his service in the Air Force, Jerry earned a masters degree in
Management from the University of Southern California. Then he and Beverly went
into full-time operation of many businesses. At one time they owned six: a tax
service, financial planning, investment planning, six Supercuts salons, a Gloria
Marshall figure salon, and an international healthcare business supplying
complete healthcare to McDonald-Douglas employees in Saudi Arabia and Chevron
Oil employees in Sudan. Jerry and Beverly flew around the world seven times and
Jerry has logged enough mileage to have circled the world twenty-five times. He
has traveled in six of the seven continents, and the Keneficks moved countless
times throughout their working years. However, visiting friends in Ashland in
1990 caused them to them fall instantly in love with the Rogue Valley. They
bought a house in Ashland within four days of arriving. The house is currently
in escrow, and Jerry will be moving soon to a building he designed and is
building on A Street. Sean’s tax business will be housed on the first floor, and
Jerry will reside in the third floor apartment.
Jerry is extremely busy in his retirement. He derives great enjoyment from
singing with the Siskiyou Singers, and with the choir at his church; he is on
the church board and he volunteers in the community for the Chamber of Commerce
and OSF. His hobbies include a passion for skiing, bike riding, reading,
cooking, and, of course, bridge games three or more times per week. Jerry is
fairly recent to bridge. He played a little "Goren style" in the Air Force, but
was too busy to play until he and Beverly moved to Ashland. After lessons with
Phil Selby and Diane Stewart, and a trip to Calgary, B.C., for lessons with
Larry Cohen, the Keneficks were ready to test their wings. They did well at a
local Regional and the rest is history. Now Jerry is a few points shy of
becoming a Life Master. He has moved on from Goren, playing the Two–Over–One
Game Forcing System with his partners. All of us who know Jerry appreciate his
quick wit, his good manners at the bridge table and his excellent bridge playing
skills. We appreciate the many times he has stepped up to help make our games
such a pleasure.
