"We are all given the ingredients of happiness, but the mixing is left to us.”
Wanita Mae Kennedy was born on Jan. 28, 1928, to the Blue family in Capron, Oklahoma. She and her twin sister Wanda were the second and third children of what would become a family of eight. When Wanita was in high school, the family moved to Washington state. She graduated from Fort Vancouver High School in 1945 and attended Clark College. While there, she reconnected with a high school classmate, Arthur Kennedy. They married on July 27, 1947, and began their lives together, entering the dairy business with a small herd of Jerseys. Soon after, they would start their family. A daughter, Linda, was born in 1948 followed by William, Joseph and Kathy. As their family grew, so did their herd of dairy cows and in 1957 they moved to Ridgefield and started Arwana Farms – a combination of Art and Wanita’s names. It was a family effort, with Wanita doing all the bookkeeping for the farm well into her 80s. She also served as president of the Clark County Dairy Women, and the Kennedys were named Clark County Dairy Family of the Year in 1974.
Wanita loved to swim, sew, quilt, cook, garden, travel and watch the Blazers. She was preceded in death by her husband Art; son Joe; and granddaughter Nikki. She is survived by her son Bill (JoAnn); daughters Linda (Scott) Grey and Kathy (Don) Jansen; brother Lewis Blue; sister Barbara Lewis; 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. A celebration of life will be held Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, at 2 p.m. at Ridgefield United Methodist Church. It will also be livestreamed on the Northwood Park Funeral Home and Cemetery website or online at https://youtu.be/Q0kZFvU5fj0. In lieu of flowers, donations in Wanita’s memory may be made to Ridgefield United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 446 Ridgefield, Wash, 98642.
