One family’s Catholic School tradition

March 4, 2019

By Blair Bonczynski, Marketing and Communications Coordinator

A chat with Omahan Rozanne Kenney will give you faith in the future.

I reached out to her on Facebook after she commented on a recent post of ours that all her grandchildren have attended nearby Catholic schools, and I had to find out more. She was more than willing to share her family’s amazing story.

She grew up on a farm in a small town in northeast Nebraska.  After moving to Omaha and getting married, she and her husband, who attended 12 years of Catholic School himself, decided it was important for their own family of four sons to also attend Catholic school. Thus began the decades-long, still ongoing, tradition for her family.

Currently, Kenney has:  2 grandsons at Creighton Prep; 1 granddaughter at Marian; 5 grandkids at St. Robert Bellarmine; 1 grandchild at Our Lady of Lourdes; 1 at Gross Catholic High School; 2 at Roncalli Catholic High School; and 2 at Mary Our Queen.

Another two of her grandchildren currently attend Bishop Neumann Catholic in Wahoo, NE and three more are currently enrolled in Benedictine College. This doesn’t count the grandchildren who have already gone through and graduated from Catholic elementary, high school and colleges.

“I’m in awe of how dedicated, helpful and appreciative they all are. It’s not surprising when their whole school day is based in faith.”

Still, there’s sometimes a bit of friendly competition and school rivalry talk that goes on, she said, given that they’re each so loyal to the schools they love.

Rozanne said it’s a lot of school activities for her to try to keep up with. “If grandparent days happen to be on the same day at some of the schools, I have to flip a coin or just stay home,” she joked.

Given we chatted on one of the coldest day of the winter last month, our conversation took a turn toward in fact staying at home, which led to her thinking out loud,  “You know, I think I will text a few of them, given that school is cancelled today. They’re good about responding. I got several messages from the group of them who went to March for Life recently.” The family bond jumped through the phone.

“I’m just amazed that now each of my children has carried the value of Catholic school forward with their kids also. I didn’t know this would happen in my lifetime and I’m happy to experience it,” she said.

Kenney’s 22 grandchild range in age from 5-28 years old. She has one great grandchild who is 16 months old.

We can’t wait to find out at which school that child will end up!

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Read this recent Omaha World-Herald article to enjoy another example of family tradition in our Catholic schools.

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