Edina, MO – Ruth McClean Kennedy passed away peacefully on December 30, 2025. She was 100 years old, although she liked to claim that she was 33.
Ruth was born in Manhattan to the late Thomas McClean and Marie (Gottschalk) McClean, and later moved with her family to Yonkers, NY. As a child she appeared in radio programs under the name “Bunny McClean”. She gave up theatrical life to attend high school and business classes before meeting her husband, James P. Kennedy, with whom she had three children.
Ruth and James settled in Southborough, MA, where she worked in local schools and in real estate while raising her children and volunteering with St. Mark’s Church. She was an early member of the Southborough Cultural Arts Council, and was instrumental in that group’s securing a dedicated space for their programming at the former South Union School in the Cordaville area. Besides serving on the installation committee and as vice-chair of the Council, Ruth was also an artist and ceramicist whose work appeared in many local juried exhibitions.
Ruth was devoted to, and is greatly missed by her family and friends. She is survived by her son Paul Kennedy of Waterford, NY, son-in-law Richard Coughlin of Kirksville, MO, and daughter-in-law MaryEllen O’Donohue Kennedy of New Salem, MA, as well as five grandchildren: Jennifer Kennedy, Nora Kennedy Paquin, Claire Coughlin, Christine Kennedy, Grace Coughlin, and Marie Coughlin, and two great-grandchildren: Ella Paquin and Evelyn Paquin. She is predeceased by her sister, Marie McClean Papp, son James P. Kennedy Jr. and daughter Patrice Kennedy Coughlin.
Ruth will be remembered by everyone for her terrific sense of humor, as well as her great style and artistic talents. A memorial is planned for March of 2026.
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