OCALA, FL (352today.com) – A life of service: Those words describe the selflessness and commitment Donald Sergeant Kennedy has made, not only while serving in the military, but also as a civilian and in his work with the Marion County Memorial Honor Guard.
Kennedy will be one of 12 members inducted into the inaugural class of the Marion County Veterans Hall of Fame on Thursday, March 19, 2026, joining six other living members, and five who are to be enshrined posthumously.
Kennedy says that even though he’s faced hardships that many other people have had to deal with, he’s been blessed. The U.S. Navy veteran is captain of the Marion County Memorial Honor Guard, a role he has a deep passion for, understanding the importance the services mean to the veterans’ families, the importance of the service to the deceased veterans, and as a way for Kennedy to give back to the community.
“God has taken care of me, he’s given me the opportunity, he’s given me good health, and he’s given me a desire to give back to the community,” said Kennedy. “I’m very fortunate that I’ve found a calling that I find important that I want to be there and be a part of it, and even today, I probably show up for 90 percent of the services, which among the honor guard, most don’t serve on that level.”
Passion and purpose
His dedicated service to the Marion County Memorial Honor Guard was one of the factors that were considered by the selection committee, after he had been nominated as a candidate for the Marion County Veterans Hall of Fame. He’s found himself among a group of individuals who understand the importance of the guard’s responsibilities.
“I greatly appreciate, when I put out a call to my guard, it is a great relief when I’m coming up a little bit short on staffing for an event, all I have to do is let them know, some of the members of the guard will change their schedule, to make sure that we have sufficient staff to do a service,” said Kennedy. “That makes my job so much easier. I’m a worrier, but it does create the sense that we’re accomplishing something, even when people are having to sacrifice part of their schedule in order to accommodate our funeral services.”
Surprise announcement
It was when he was on the honor guard bus that Kennedy received the call that he had been selected for induction.
“We had a funeral down at Florida National. We were headed back toward On Top of the World, and the call came in from Daisy Diaz (Marion County Veterans Services Director). I let her know that she was on speaker phone, and she gave me the news, in front of about eight members of the guard,” said Kennedy. “There was sort of a rousing congratulations. There were several people weighing in and they thought it was well deserved.
“I’m privileged to go in with a highly regarded group. I know Colonel [Craig] Ham. Steve Petty has been part of the guard; Colonel Ham is part of the guard. I admire both of those gentlemen so much. Bill Dorsey is an untiring volunteer, me, and of course Lewis Alston when he was in the guard, he was just a tremendous morale booster. He had a liveliness that very few people have.”
Emphasis on excellence
Kennedy is from Russell, Ky. and at the time he graduated from high school, there were few good paying blue-collar job available in the area. In 1971, the four industries of oil, steel, rail and coal were declining because of what was happening in the economy, he said. He made a life-transforming decision that would take him to different parts of the globe.
“A friend of mine said, I’m going in the Navy, you want to go with me?” said Kennedy, who served in the Navy for 22 years, and retired with the rank of Aviation Electronics Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer. “We joined on the buddy system. We served together in the same area for the next year. I made a decision early on when I qualified that I was going to sign for six years for guaranteed electronics, and that meant about a year of school. Early on, I was setting the stage for learning, doing some traveling, and as my career progressed, frequently when I would come up for orders, they said, we have something in Norfolk, I said what do you have overseas, and I did three overseas tours just because I asked to check availability. I did two tours in Sigonella, Sicily, Italy and one tour in Yeovilton, England, a Royal Naval Air Station, (where he worked for NATO’s MEWSG, Multi-Service Electronic Warfare Support Group, on a wide variety of other nation’s aircraft). I had a chance to travel with my family, I had a chance to see the world, I did four med cruises aboard aircraft carriers, three aboard the Forestal, one aboard the Nimitz.”
Serving in the Navy provided Kennedy with several propitious opportunities, allowing him to successfully transition into civilian life.
“It was a good career,” said Kennedy. “I was fortunate to serve in some jobs that gave me a background that led to my second career, and that was as a test engineer for power conversion systems on a spacecraft, it still comes down to taking advantage of the training the military is giving you, and finding a way that ties it to something for the future.”
A place called home
He found his way to Marion County through familial connections, which played an important role in helping him relocate to the area that has been his home for nearly nine years.
“I spent nine to 10 years in the Jacksonville area, my second wife, who’s since passed away, actually had family living here in Ocala, and when we got ready to move, I actually put my ex-sister-in law to work, to go check on the houses before we decided where we were going to move to,” said Kennedy. “We came down here and settled in, it didn’t take long. I’ve always been proactive in doing things, I spent some time with a group in New Jersey called the New Jersey Mission of Honor except they’re burying people who have been dead for many years. I actually helped perform services for a Spanish American War veteran and a Mexican War veteran. I’d been in other things up there, including Habitat for Humanity.”
Kennedy joined the Marion County Memorial Honor Guard in 2019 and became captain of the guard in 2021. He came upon the nonprofit organization, with which he has become somewhat synonymous, through his unwavering commitment to service.
“When I got here, I looked around a little bit, and I was searching for something to do,” said Kennedy. “I just happened to stumble on the guard. I volunteered. I went out, the very first time they put me on a rifle, and as it progressed, I actually started stepping into a semi-leadership position, without necessarily having it, and when it came time to find a new captain of the guard, the current captain of the guard encouraged me to take over. He said, ‘you can do this, don’t burn yourself out, just keep going.'”
A brotherhood without boundaries
What we do is a priority for me. I have a lot of guys, and we have shared priorities across a wide diverse area, Veterans Helping Veterans, the VFW, the American Legion, a large amount of support activities for veterans. I have made this my one central point. I’m there whenever I’m worried that I may not be able to support it, if I don’t have myself participating. When I first met my wife, my third wife, Marcela, she used to tell me, ‘Go find something to do, try to stay busy, I’ve got things to do. You go ahead and do something,’ and in the last couple of years, every now and then, she has to remind me, ‘You can take a day off, you don’t have to do them all.’ It’s a point that I prefer to be involved rather than risking the chance that we can’t provide the honors that I think these veterans deserve.”
It’s Kennedy’s commitment to serving others with an indefatigable spirit and an unwavering dedication that has made indelible imprint on those lucky enough to know him and his example resonates powerfully within the community.
“Just being a part of it, realizing that there are so many unique people out there that are contributing to what is being done in support of veterans and to me being recognized for being a part of that,” said Kennedy. “Lots of times, I view my role as just sort of coaxing things along, not necessarily making things happen. Ultimately, it does come down to the fact that all of these people make things happen on some level or another. It’s a great honor to be recognized as somebody that makes a difference in the community.”