Kennett Hobbs

KENNETT HOBBS lived life fully during his almost 82 years. He succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease after a battle of more than six years, throughout which his sense of humor belayed his memory and other difficulties. Named George Kennett Hobbs at birth on January 11, 1929, in Ardmore, Oklahoma, he grew up as “Hobby” and insisted that he be called Kennett (with two “t’s”), having been given the name of his father’s employer during the late 1920’s. Reared in the north Texas town of Pampa, he attended two years of Pampa High School and received his diploma in 1947 from Kemper Military School, Boonville, Missouri. His favorite stories often referred to his being employed in his father-owned General Supply Company delivering supplies to the oil and gas fields in the summer while attending Texas Tech University. Kennett was a highly educated, dedicated and compassionate attorney. He earned BBA (1951) and MBA (1952) degrees in Management and Business Administration from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, where he was enthralled with a devoted MBA professor, Dr. Ernest Mize, and taught Management and Labor Law courses in the College of Business Administration and later in the College of Human Ecology. After completing his business degrees, he served two years in the U. S. Air Force as Manpower Management Officer at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio . Then, while completing the Doctor of Jurisprudence law degree in 1959 from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, he was Business Manager of the Southwestern Law Journal, a member of The Barristers of SMU’s School of Law, and a member of The Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity. Upon graduation from SMU, he moved to Lubbock, TX, and felt fortunate to become partner in the Bass and Hobbs Law Firm with Roy Bass, who was elected Lubbock Mayor and for which he was campaign manager. He practiced law there for 30 years with special attention to corporate and family law. While living in Lubbock, he was active in the Kiwanis Club—serving as President of the Southwest Kiwanis Club (1963), as Lt. Governor of the Texas/Oklahoma District (1964) and then as General Chairman of the Texas-Oklahoma District Convention held in Lubbock in 1965. He was the organizer of the initial Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood Association (1962-65). From 1962-1989, he was a member of the Lubbock, Texas, Chamber of Commerce and Associate Director for the Lubbock Goals for the 1970s Program. During the period after the 1970 tornado devastated downtown Lubbock, Kennett led the work of the Urban Renewal Board in the development and reconstruction of the homes, businesses, and corporations blown away or heavily damaged by the storm. At the same time, he served on the Board as well as the 12 midnight-to-7 am telephone worker for Contact Teleministry (1972-1976), and was member and President of the initial Board of Directors for Lubbock Rape Crisis Center. The deceased was more than a little active in The Presbyterian Church—often referred to as “Mr. Presbyterian.” In Lubbock, he served as elder and/or deacon in the First Presbyterian, St. Mark Presbyterian, and the Covenant Presbyterian Churches of Lubbock, TX, and in Knoxville, in the First Presbyterian and Second Presbyterian Churches. In 1965, he served as Moderator of The Presbytery of the Southwest. Selected by the Moderator of The General Assembly as one of twelve commissioned as representatives of the Southern Presbyterian Churches to contact Presbyterian denominations to unite Northern and Southern churches, he served and worked 13 years on The General Assembly Joint Committee for the Reunion of the UPUSA (Northern Presbyterian) and PCUS (Southern Presbyterian) churches—which occurred and was celebrated in Atlanta in 1983. Kennett was preceded in death by his parents, Vernon & Lena Pearl Hobbs; his grandparents George & Julia Sullivan and Will & Mary Hobbs and is survived by his sister, Elice Sailor & her husband, R.J. Sailor. He is also survived by his loving and devoted wife of more than thirty years, Connie Steele; three children: Heather Ammons & her husband, Chris; Kelly Reid and her husband, Dale; and Kennett L. Hobbs and his spouse Lindy; two stepchildren: Donald Steele & his wife, Suzanne; and Sherie Steele& her partner, David Graham; and grandchildren: Ashley Ammons, Tabitha Ammons, Krista Ammons, and Sean Steele; and his cousins: Sue Milner, JoAnne Henry, Roy Frank Sullivan, and Don Gwynne. He lived in Lubbock, Texas, from 1959 until he moved to Knoxville, TN, in 1989, when his wife accepted a position at the University of Tennessee. After moving to Knoxville, he was employed as General Counsel for Bush Brothers & Company (“Bush’s Baked Beans”), where he worked until he retired in 1998. His community involvement in Knoxville consisted of serving on the Boards of the Mental Health Association of Greater Knoxville, The Community School of the Arts, the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Knoxville, and as President and Board member of the Volunteer Ministry Center, a homeless shelter, where he served as a volunteer for more than 10,000 hours. In recognition of his VMC service, he was awarded in August, 2007, The President’s Volunteer Service Award from the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness of Washington, D.C. Throughout the more than eight decades of his life, Kennett sought new ways to learn about the world and its peoples. He was an avid reader and learner, keeping his extensive library stocked with the latest 100 books to be read. Enchanted with jazz music, he saw its linkage to the classic musicians and found both the Lubbock Symphony and, particularly, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestras a “must-attend” every season. When friends visited, he was proud for them to see the Knoxville Museum of Art, where he was a member and for several years helped select KMA’s art acquisitions. He fostered a deep desire to live in the mountains, so, as often as possible, he skied with carefree abandon and was warmly referred to as The Silver Bullet—often in Sante Fe & Taos, New Mexico; in Colorado at Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Powder Horn, Crested Butte, Aspen, Park City, Vail, Beaver Creek & more; in New Zealand and in Bad Gastein, Austria; Chamonix, France; & the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland. Obviously, he reveled in traveling and saw the world. Either by sea in multiple cruises and/or by air, he toured Europe nine times; China twice; Australia; Japan; Antarctica; the 50 U.S. states including twice to Barrow, AK. Most exciting learning experience occurred in his taking a cruise “Around the World in 98 Days”—from Southhampton, UK, round trip to Azores, Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts, Central America’s Costa Rica & Panama; South America’s Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Chili; Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Easter Island, Tonga, India, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Sicily, to UK.. In mid-life, Kennett found a brief philosophic comment entitled “The Essence of Survival, Life, and Happiness” which to him summed up what life is really about and which he shared with friends: “Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest Lion or it will be killed…every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle…when the sun comes up you’d better be running. “If in the middle of all this running you find you can relate to people who nurture and love you, then you have begun to live—not merely survive…but for what purpose? “The purpose of life is not to be happy. The purpose of life is to matter, to be productive and to make some difference that you lived at all. Happiness in the ancient, noble verse means self-fulfillment and is given to those who use—to the fullest—whatever talents God has bestowed upon them.” Kennett willed his body to The University of TN Medical Ctr., Memphis, TN, & was transported there on November 21. Visitation with Kennett’s family from Texas, Arizona, & California, New York, & Knoxville, will be held on Sat., Dec. 11, 5-7:00 pm at Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel, 6200 Kingston Pike. Memorial services will be held Sunday, December 12 at 2:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 620 State Str.—with urn interment in the First Presby. Columbarium at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions to Volunteer Ministry Ctr., P.O. Box 325, Knoxville, TN 37901 will be celebrated. Kennett’s story can be read at www.caringbridge.org/kennetthobbs. Arrangements by Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel. Online condolences may be extended at www.rosemortuary.com

Tributes

Kennett Hobbs

January 11, 1929 - November 21, 2010