James Keith Kennedy, 21, died Jan. 2, 2009, as a result of an accident.

He was born Dec. 15, 1987, in Hutchinson, the son of Robert E. and Patti L. Stauffer Kennedy.

He graduated from Nickerson High School in 2006, and was a junior at Kansas State University, where he was majoring in Animal Science.

He had been class president all four years at Nickerson High School.

He belonged to Mitchell Chapel United Methodist Church.

Survivors include: his parents; two sisters, Kristin Watts and husband Thomas, and Brooke Kennedy; grandparents, Harold and Beverly Stauffer, Jim and Lucy Kennedy, and Vic and Sharon Ledgerwood; a great-grandmother, Maxine England, all of Hutchinson; and numerous other family and friends.

Memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Thursday Jan. 8, 2009, at Mitchell Chapel United Methodist Church, with Pastor Nancy Proffitt presiding. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Elliott Mortuary, Hutchinson, with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Inurnment will be in Pleasant View Cemetery, Huntsville.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the James K. Kennedy 4-H Memorial Scholarship, in care of the mortuary.

Visit www.elliottmortuary.com to leave condolences for the family.