Jerry Kennedy is still going strong.
The Indianapolis resident has been sending homemade St. Patrick’s Day cards to friends and family since 1951. His mailing list grew two years ago after he was profiled in Link and began receiving notes of appreciation from Postal Service employees who were charmed by his devotion to the mail.
Now Kennedy has added those folks to his list, which means he creates and mails more than 250 cards annually.
“I sent more out this year than any year,” he said.
Kennedy, who’ll turn 92 in May, was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and endured several painful chemotherapy treatments, but now he’s in remission. “I lost all my hair, but it’s finally coming back,” he said.
The longtime University of Notre Dame football fan has been using stamps honoring its late president, Father Theodore Hesburgh, to mail his cards, and he continues to add a poem or song of Ireland to each of his creations.
“That’s why I was so determined to send out my cards again,” he said. “I just love doing it.”