MILTON — A 42-year-old man who died after what investigators called a “fatal incident” in the parking lot at the Kowloon Restaurant in Saugus was remembered by his family as a great father who sought to live his life to the fullest.
Patrick J. Kenney, or “PK,” a former football player, approached life the same way he played the sport, “full speed ahead with fierce determination and infectious joy,” his family wrote in his official obituary. Kenney played football at both Boston College High and the University of Maine, spending his senior season coaching while recovering from an injury.
Later in life, at 37, the toughness Kenney displayed on the football field reflected in his recovery from what his mother described as a “devastating medical condition,” which caused him to suffer a series of strokes.
Kenney “waged an ongoing struggle against the concern that another stroke could gravely alter the course of his life,” the obituary reads. “During arduous rehabilitation work at Spaulding Rehabilitation, his competitive spirit kicked in as he showed his mother the goals for a particular session and then exceeded those goals.”
Donna, Kenney’s mother, said after the strokes, her son felt he had been given a second chance. In 2021, that second chance took the form of the birth of his twins — Ava and Patrick III.
“It all seemed like a miracle,” said Kenney’s father, Patrick Sr., in the obituary. “He had gone from the depths of suffering strokes to the highest of highs as a father whose life was even more joyous than he had dared to imagine.”
“He was a great father,” added his wife, Lauren. “I feel like he wanted to live life to the fullest after that because he knew tomorrow wasn’t promised.”
After college, Kenney joined the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where he helped respond to a number of disasters, including Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey and storms in Puerto Rico. In doing so, he helped “people put their lives back together” while working no less than 12 hours a day, according to the notice.
“His desire to help other[s] was a natural instinct,” his family wrote.
In the obituary, Kenney’s brother, Matthew, recalled how Patrick aided his plan to propose to his then-girlfriend now-wife by booking a hotel room for them using credit card points and guiding him through exactly what to say in the moment.
Matthew Kenney said his brother constantly set an example for him.
“The type of family man that he was, the type of friend,” he wrote in the obituary. “Those are all things that I now strive to be.”
In the obituary, Donna Kenney recalled her last words to her son.
“The last thing I said to him was, ‘I love you,’ which means a lot to me,” she said.
Kenney’s sister-in-law, Liz Boucher, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help the family in the wake of what she called an “indescribable loss.”
The campaign, which has raised more than $77,000 as of press time, describes Kenney as not just a loving father and husband, but also his wife Lauren’s “best friend and confidant.”
“Your generosity will contribute to their future educational needs, ensuring that Pat’s dream of securing a bright future for his family endures,” Boucher wrote.
In a statement released the day after Kenney’s death, the family called the incident a “horrible tragedy.”
Kenney was found suffering from a knife wound in the Kowloon Restaurant parking lot on Saturday night and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Subsequently, investigators deemed his death an accident and said no other parties were involved.
