Mary Ellen Kennon

Mary Ellen Kennon was born March 15, 1935, in Climax, Greenwood County, Kansas, to Howard Elmo Brown and Marian Parilee Ball. She died in Tucson on May 30, 2026, at the age of 91, two days shy of her 73rd Wedding Anniversary to Rev. Kenneth Kennon. They met in kindergarten in 1942, started dating at 16, were engaged at 17, graduated from Springfield (MO.) High School on a Friday and married the next Monday, June 1, 1953.

She was preceded was in death by her parents, her siblings William (Bill) Brown, Ada Ann Brown-Jones, Jerry Brown, and two sons Mark A. Kennon and John Raymond Kennon. Mary Ellen is survived by her husband and three of their five children: Bruce D. Kennon of Tucson, AZ, Paul S. Kennon of Lansing, MI., Julia L Melvin of Chandler, AZ, 15 grandchildren, and 14 Great Grandchildren.

Prior to moving to Tucson, she helped to create and served as the founding board president for the Comstock Medical Clinic, which was later related to the nonprofit Lee Memorial Hospital in Dowagiac, Michigan. She was always active in community groups concerned about child development and care, including the creation of a summer camping experience for the learning disabled at Crystal Lake near Frankfort, Michigan. When Mrs. Kennon and family lived in Texas, later in Tucson where her husband as the pastor with Broadway Christian Church, she hosted refugees and had an ongoing concern for children and dependent and elderly adults in every community they lived. She created Our Place Adult Care Homes in 1986 and was their manager/ owner until 2014, employing, training employees and caring for hundreds of Tucson residents. Mrs. Kennon also was a founding member of Tucson's Council on Adult Care Homes (C.O.A.C.H.) and served as its President. She was deeply involved in the innovative Cross Streets Community, meeting at Tucson's Southside Presbyterian Church serving the needs and staffed by both residents and the area's homeless. In 2011 Coalition de Derechos Humanos of Tucson presented her with the Corazon de Justicia Award for her "dedication in the struggle for justice and human rights in our community."

Her granddaughter Amber wrote:

"Where do I begin...My Grandma Kennon was the most compassionate, selfless, family-centered, God-fearing and faithful servant...I will continue to cherish the lifetime of memories and feel your cheering, from a distance."

In Honor of Mary Ellen Kennon's legacy, donations to assist needy neighbors are encouraged designated for Cross Streets Community at Southside Presbyterian Church, 327 E. 23rd Street, Tucson, AZ 85713, where her memorial service will be held Saturday, August 22nd at 2 p.m.

For those unable to be there physically, you are invited to join us on Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86855565493 Passcode 117951