Imogene Kinard "Gene" Kennedy
Founder of Montgomery County Genealogy Society
 

When you walk into the Genealogy Dept. of the Montgomery Co. Library, you will see a "pixi-looking" lady with a sparkle in her eye and a smile on her face, and hear her say, "Will you sign the register, please?" This is Imogene Nellie (Kinard) Kennedy, known to all as "Gene".

Imogene Kinard Kennedy
 

Born in Anadarko, Oklahoma, Gene was raised in Matagorda Co., Texas and is a graduate of Cameron College in Lawton, Oklahoma. She and her husband, Leon, live in Chateau Woods in south Montgomery Co. They have four daughters and three grandchildren.
 

Gene began working on her genealogy in 1959 and so far, has traced three ancestors back to the Revolutionary War and one back to 1611 in Jamestown. After having been on the staff at Clayton Library in Houston for five years, she joined the staff at Montgomery Co. Library and established a much needed Genealogy Dept. as soon as funds became available. In the four years she has been here the library has acquired, under her direction, 600 microfilm reels, over 800 books, and three microfilm readers to add to the one already in the library. The Genealogy Dept. started upstairs but was soon moved downstairs to a larger room; then that room was enlarged. Plans are now in effect to enlarge even more.
 

In 1976 Gene founded the Montgomery County Genealogical Society and has watched it grow with pride. It has brought people together with a common interest and has allowed us all to make new friends. She also established the volunteer crew, called Genealogy Aides, to help the library patrons in the Genealogy Dept. and to relieve Gene so she can have more time to work at acquiring more books and material for the department.
 

Thanks to Gene, the Montgomery County Library has a fine Genealogy Dept. and we no longer have to drive 60 miles to Clayton to work on our family history. Gene has inspired us, guided us, and insisted on neatness. We are lucky to have her and hope she will stay with us for many many years.

From Montgomery County Genealogical Society, Anniversary Issue, 1977, p 3.