James Dexter Kearny

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James Dexter Kearny

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JAMES DEXTER KEARNY April 11, 1926-January 24, 2012
James Dexter Kearny, age 85, died January 24th. He was born in Washington, DC. A naval career took Commander Kearny to a number of ports before retiring to Atlanta in 1996, which he made his home. Dex graduated in 1947 from Yale with a degree in engineering. He spent the next 23 years in the U.S. Navy, starting on destroyers then serving on submarines in the Atlantic. He was the first commander of the USS James Madison SSBN 627, a nuclear powered Polaris Missile submarine based in Rota, Spain. Following his military career, he spent the next 23 years with Merrill Lynch retiring 1989 as a Vice President. Dex was married to Laura Anne Moore, daughter of Rear Admiral John R. Moore, himself a distinguished WWII submarine commander. The Navy runs in the family. His grandfather and great grandfather were Academy graduates and admirals, the latter served the Union during the Civil War. He is survived by his brother Richard A. Kearny of McLean, Virginia; his sister Edmonia M. Kearny of Washington, DC; and his children Patricia Katz of Atlanta, Rev. Dr. James D. Kearny, Jr. of Seattle, Washington; Anne K. Hardin of Nashville, Tennessee; and John R. Kearny of Lawrenceville, Georgia, and 11 grandchildren. Dexter was a scout master, president of the PTA, member of the Ansley Kiwanis, past president of the Yale Club of Georgia. Upon retirement he volunteered for over a dozen years for Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta, an organization dedicated to teaching adults to read, and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher. Golf with his buddies, an annual fishing adventure, travel and enjoying his grandchildren took up his retirement years. The family will receive friends from 7:00 to 9:00pm at Pattersons at Oglethorpe Hill Chapel, 4550 Peachtree Road Northeast, Atlanta, on Thursday, January 26. A memorial mass will be at All Saints Catholic church at 11:00am on Friday, January 27. In lieu of flowers, a contribution to the American Heart Association or Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta, 256 Sycamore St., Decatur, GA 30030 would be appreciated.
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