Iris Constance (née Fleming) Kennedy

Passed peacefully away on April 16, 2025, surrounded by friends and family, Iris Constance Kennedy (née Fleming), age 82. Our mother was predeceased by her parents, Georgina and Fred Fleming, her brother, John Fleming, and our father, John Kennedy. Mom leaves to mourn with so many memories and baking tricks, her daughters, Lisa Hauser (David) and Heather Carroll (Darcy). She was Nanny to her five beloved grandchildren, Liam, Max, Katie and Emily Hauser, and Joshua Carroll. Grieving also are her surviving siblings, Alan, Helen, and Frank Fleming, Betty Corbett and Fred Fleming.

Mom taught us both to be a loyal and true friend and had a circle that was around her until the end, some as long as 75 years. The friends and family that surrounded Mom in her final days was beautiful. Thank you to our aunts Betty and Helen….you both supported Heather and I in different ways, along with Bride and Dot for your special visits. We both saw the love and support from Mary Hayes and Shirley LaCour our entire lives, and until Mom’s last day on this earth. She loved her friends dearly and enjoyed many a shared birthday with Mary.

Born on August 27, 1942 in Tomatin, Scotland, Mom was the second of seven siblings. She came over on the Aquatania in the spring of 1946 (with Alan and Helen and her parents). She infamously lost her favourite doll, Baba over the side of the ship. When they arrived in North Arm it was a sunny day and she took the hand of her grandfather Fleming, who walked with her from Woodfords Station.

Mom and Dad married in November of 1968 in the middle of a huge snowstorm. They spent years in Brooklyn where Mom was inspired by the food and learned different recipes. Mom often said Heather and I teethed on pizza crust. They would later divorce, but as a testament to forgiveness, they formed a friendship that lasted until his passing in 2018.

Mom dedicated much of her life to raising her two daughters, Heather and I. She taught us her love of cooking, baking and entertaining at a very young age. She was well known for her baking especially her Christmas pudding and rum sauce. She was well loved in her community and had a close knit group of friends and family who were a constant in her life. Mom appreciated good food and a fancy cocktail.

Above all, Mom’s greatest joy came from her family. She was a proud mother and Nanny. As a mother, she never missed a play or a concert. She would run lines for plays, and would wake up whenever we came home as teenagers and talk in her bed about how the dance or party went. She spent many months, in later years, in Edmonton spending quality time as a loving grandmother in all of her grandchildren’s lives. She cheered for all three grandsons in hockey. She was a fixture at dance and gymnastics and soccer. Everyone knew who Nanny was cheering for….the best hockey players, dancers and gymnast ever. But when certain people would end up in the penalty box, it was everyone else’s fault. When Emily was born she couldn’t stop talking about what a doll she looked like and has marveled for the past 21 years about that fact. Max loved when she would babysit them. She loved baking with her grandchildren and would patiently guide them through tea buns, gingerbread and chocolate chip cookies. Joshua did not have any interest in baking with Nanny at first and instead stood on the counter and sprayed the kitchen with water from the faucet, much to Nanny’s dismay. He did succumb to the tea buns though because who doesn’t love tea buns and milky tea with Nanny?

Mom loved to travel. She picked a pineapple in Hawaii, watched Heather get married in Mexico, saw Guys and Dolls on Broadway, and visited Green Gables in PEI. On one special trip to Inverness, which we actually found the house where she was born, in spite of a sly cab driver who just wanted to make the tally higher. She almost got blown off the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, climbed 287 steps to the top of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh, ate haggis in Inverness, got horribly carsick in Oxford, and took a double decker bus tour in London. Speaking of carsickness, it is the one affliction she passed on to both of us!

We would like to extend heart felt thanks to Mom’s caregivers and companions; Bride Walsh , Agatha Hickey, Marie Brophy and Tracie Barry, also to the many family and friends who have helped Mom over the past several years. We appreciate you to the bottom of our hearts.

An Iris is a beautiful flower. How fitting that Fred and Georgina named their first baby girl after it, having no idea of the beautiful woman and person she would become. Think of our mother when you see one, and smile.

Resting at Dunphy's Funeral Home, Holyrood. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 20 from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, Harbour Main on Thursday, August 21, 2025 at 10:30 am with inurnment to follow at Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Harbour Main. Please remember Iris loved colour…leave the black clothing in the closet!

For those unable to attend, the service will be livestreamed with the link available below.

Flowers gratefully accepted, or if friends so desire, donations in Iris’ memory may be made to the Canadian Mental Health Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.