John A. Burch

Pasadena chapter of the NAACP. He would go on to become the youngest president in its history, and I would serve on his inaugural board of directors.

Throughout the past 40 years, we have enjoyed working together and growing together. Moreover, through it all, we remained steadfast brothers with a common goal, the betterment of “people who look like us” and the advancement of our community.

What I will miss most, from my brother John, is our friendship and respect for each other.

No matter what we were both doing, we would answer each other’s call on the first ring, laugh, ask each other if we were working out and eating well, and then get to the reason of our call. You will surely be missed my brother.

Kathlyn Clarice Jones Boykin

I knew John more than 50 years. We grew up in the same neighborhood of Pasadena. The Kennedy family lived on West Claremont Street and my family lived on Solita Road. I attended Cleveland Elementary, McKinley Junior High and Blair High School with John.

John was a dear and close friend; our relationship was unique because it spanned from childhood through adulthood. Our friendship deep ened because John invited me to attend Metropolitan Baptist Church with him when we were in high school. John’s big personality and deep sense of caring and concern permeated my life in a profound way. Whenever I introduced John to my family and friends, I would tell them John led me to the Lord. But John, in his infinite humbleness, would not ascribe credit to himself.

My relationship with John strengthened over the past 10 years when he traveled to Washington, D.C., particularly during the Congressional Black Caucus, or I traveled to Pasadena. We loved to hang out, eat a great meal, and have deep conversations about love, life, family, and our beloved Pasadena. John was dedicated and passionate about the people of Pasadena and his work for the west side. On my last visit to Pasadena and the last time I saw John, the day after this last election, I asked him about his desires for this next term of office and he did not hesitate to say, “affordable housing.”

John’s life was a life of serving God’s people and his family; I will dearly miss our spirited conversations, his encouraging words, and regular text messaging which included various political articles, his latest community event videos, daily devotionals or just a “Hey, checking in…” Yes, John was a lifelong, dear and close friend.

God has a way about Himself. He has the ability to find favor on you when you least expect it. He can put people together and create relationships that are extraordinary and unexpected. I have had the good fortune to have been friends with John J. Kennedy for over 30 years.