LOWELL — If you have been involved in politics in Greater Lowell over the last half-century, there is a pretty good chance you encountered Ed Kennedy on more than one occasion.
From city councilor, to mayor, to state senator, Kennedy spent nearly five decades representing Greater Lowell in many capacities, right up until the day he died on Oct. 1. Through it all, Kennedy worked with countless residents and officials to leave a mark in his home community that will be felt for decades more.
While many knew him, and knew him very well, one of those who knew the late state senator best was his cousin, Frank Heslin, who grew up with Kennedy and delivered his eulogy at Wednesday’s funeral. As cousins, Heslin said he and Kennedy were as close as siblings. They celebrated many birthdays and holidays together, and when they got older would often go to the Commodore Ballroom to see shows like The Doors.
When Kennedy, in his mid-20s, decided to take a chance at the Lowell City Council, Heslin said it didn’t really come as a surprise.
“He had always followed a lot of what was going on in the city,” said Heslin.
“He loved the action. He loved to help, and he also loved to debate and make decisions and figure out ways to make things better,” Heslin said later.
When asked what he thought his cousin’s legacy would be in Greater Lowell, Heslin brought up the same topic many others did when reminiscing about Kennedy: The Lowell High School project.
In 2017, a citywide debate over the location of the new high school building reached a fever pitch, with the City Council voting narrowly to locate it in Cawley Stadium, and a referendum later that year showing widespread voter preference for the downtown site.
Kennedy, as the city’s mayor and chair of the School Committee during this time, was credited by many in recent days for his major role in pushing for the downtown site, where the new and renovated buildings — some still in progress — stand today. At the time, Heslin said, Kennedy took a lot of flak from other officials and from the local media.
“He was just able to let it roll. He wasn’t going to get too bogged down in it,” said Heslin.
Heslin knew Kennedy beyond politics, though. He described Kennedy’s love for the Rolling Stones, and his love for hiking and the outdoors.
“When I talked with him before he died, I said the thing I am probably most happy about was the same thing as him, how we climbed the northern and southern Presidential Range in 1975 before we each got married,” said Heslin.
Heslin called his late cousin “a sincere and determined person” who made his decisions based on what he genuinely thought to be in the people’s best interest. He highlighted Kennedy’s initiative, the “Mayor’s Holiday Fest for Homeless Youth,” which he started in 2017 to raise money for Community Teamwork, but it ended with the pandemic.
“He really was that way,” Heslin said.
UMass President and former Congressman Marty Meehan met Kennedy during Meehan’s sophomore year at the then-University of Lowell, when both worked at Lowell District Court in 1975. Unsurprisingly, the two would often talk politics, and two years later when Kennedy ran for City Council to start his first tenure there, he brought Meehan on to run his campaign. The two would become close friends through this, even next-door neighbors at one point.
Among Meehan’s many stories about Kennedy, he said part of his friend’s legacy will also be in his role from the state Senate in the long-awaited reconstruction of the Rourke Bridge, which finally broke ground this year.
“Which was ironic, because Ed voted in his first [City Council] term for Ray Rourke to be the mayor,” said Meehan, referring to one of the bridge’s namesakes.
“I never saw him in a political situation lose his temper. He was very even tempered. Even when there were disagreements, he wouldn’t get all worked up about it,” Meehan later added.
Patti Kirwin-Keilty has known Kennedy for most of her life, with both growing up in the same Belvidere neighborhood. She would start working for Kennedy for the first time when he joined the state Senate in 2019. Through that new lens, Kirwin-Keilty saw, and was a part of, Kennedy’s dedication to his constituents.
“For most people, we were the last stop, when they called the senator’s office with an issue,” said Kirwin-Keilty. “He would continually advocate for those constituents when they were experiencing some problem. If we weren’t getting anywhere, he would make follow-up phone calls for a commission or whoever was needed.
“He was an advocate for human beings, for people to get a fair shake, that they receive services they should receive, and that they were treated fairly,” Kirwin-Keilty added.
Alongside Kirwin-Keilty in Kennedy’s office was James Ostis, who started working for Kennedy in 2017 when he was mayor. Ostis would work under both Kennedy and Bill Samaras during their respective mayoral terms, but he would also join Kennedy’s state Senate office in 2019.
While Ostis had a front-row seat to the Lowell High School drama from Kennedy’s office, and his advocacy for the Rourke Bridge, Ostis looked back at a part of Kennedy’s legacy from before Ostis was even born: his advocacy in the nation’s capital for the creation of the Lowell National Historical Park in 1978 during his first City Council term.
“He testified on something like that, which was so fundamental to the last half-century in Lowell,” said Ostis. “There are all these things throughout history he had at least a little role in, and all of these things he had a huge role in.”
A special election will inevitably be called for Kennedy’s Senate seat, but in the meantime Ostis and Kirwin-Keilty both said their office would continue doing its constituent services work, for anybody who needs it.
When former Lowell City Manager Eileen Donoghue left the state Senate to work for the city, it was Kennedy who succeeded her. For the start of his time in the Legislature, Kennedy remained in his seat on the City Council, in part because there were still important votes left in the last year of the term for the city.
“When he was sworn into the Senate, he certainly could have left the City Council and had a special election to fill the seat,” said Donoghue. “It was not an easy thing to do, but he did that to see through the mission of keeping Lowell High School downtown.”
Donoghue said Kennedy liked to pick big projects he thought would be beneficial for Lowell and put his political weight behind them as much as he could.
“[Lowell High] was just a fairness decision for so many kids that were able to walk to school. I watched the many times Ed was really hit hard in the media, but he would just let it roll off his back,” said Donoghue.
“When they say you can’t be a hero in your hometown, they aren’t talking about Ed,” Donoghue said later.
Councilor Rita Mercier served with Kennedy for his entire second stint on the council. She said while Kennedy was thought to have a rather serious demeanor, “he could laugh with the best of them.”
“He was a kind and thoughtful gentleman. A friend to all who got things done. The City of Lowell is very grateful for his determination and fight to bring much needed funding in to our city. We will all miss him tremendously,” said Mercier.
Kennedy was a member of the Democratic Party, but maintained friendships with even the more conservative local faces, like former radio talk host Casey Crane, who said Kennedy was “the most loyal friend you could ever ask for.”
“You could be personal friends and still be opposites politically. A rare man of character who stood up for the people who mattered to him and made everyone feel like they mattered even if it meant going way out of his way to show you,” said Crane. “I was honored to call him a friend. I will miss him terribly.”
One of Kennedy’s colleagues in the state Senate, Barry Finegold, noted that when the most recent redistricting process moved the town of Dracut from Finegold’s district to Kennedy’s, Kennedy stepped up to serve his new community.
“Ed assured me he took the responsibility seriously and sure enough – he did his homework and became an expert on Dracut almost overnight,” said Finegold. “That was Ed – dedicated and community minded. He was in government to serve the people – which he did with expertise and care.”
Former state Rep. Rady Mom said he was fortunate to know Kennedy for many years, and to have served with him in the Legislature and worked together when Kennedy was on the council. He called Kennedy “a humble man who worked tirelessly for the community and dedicated his life to helping others.”
“He always had Lowell’s best interest at heart and l appreciated his partnership on many issues, including advancing the replacement of the Rourke Bridge,” Mom said. “His passing is a loss all of us are mourning. He will be dearly missed. My thoughts are with his wife Susan, their children Christina and Eddie, and their grandchildren.”
