No one passing through the 2000 block of Liberty Street in Allentown\u2019s West End could miss Rose Kennedy\u2019s house during St. Patrick\u2019s Day celebrations.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, a cherub could be seen nestled among the riot of Irish flags, shamrocks and leprechauns, blowing a kiss to \u201cour Angel Rosie\u201d as dozens of family, friends and neighbors gathered to pay tribute to the woman Mayor Matt Tuerk dubbed \u201cthe glue that held this neighborhood together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The late Rose Kennedy is now the official namesake of both the annual Porch Party & Decorating Contest and her own block, with a green, white and orange street sign perched across from her longtime residence, in clear view of the upstairs bedroom her eldest daughter now uses as an office.<\/p>\n
When the trash bag covering up the new Rose Kennedy Way sign blew off halfway through the mayor\u2019s block dedication speech, the crowd laughed, raised their glasses and said, \u201cThat\u2019s Rosie. She\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennedy and her siblings grew up in the coal town borough of McAdoo in Schuylkill County. Born in 1947, Kennedy moved to Allentown when she was in fifth grade, and she quickly bonded with two best friends who would eventually join her as Class of \u201865 graduates from Allentown Central Catholic High School.<\/p>\n
Kennedy died in 2023 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. The surviving members of her \u201cThree Amigos\u201d crew, Marilyn Schuster Miller and Kathy Stoudt, were on hand Saturday.<\/p>\n
Schuster Miller called Kennedy\u2019s house the site of \u201call the good memories\u201d and said the friend group was lucky they all stayed local and stayed in touch.<\/p>\n
In high school, the three could be found at every dance, basketball and football game, Schuster Miller said: \u201cAnything we could do to support the school.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Paddock was a favorite hangout, Stoudt said, calling high school \u201cthe best years\u201d and saying, \u201cWe were blessed to have all of our friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennedy\u2019s sister, Juliann Bortz, wore Rosie\u2019s green hoodie to Saturday\u2019s festivities and said she could feel Rosie\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister\u2019s up there loving it,\u201d Juliann said.<\/p>\n
Neither a cancer diagnosis nor the pandemic could keep Kennedy from her beloved Zumba, Bortz said, saying Kennedy would exercise on her porch while her friends did their moves in the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing held her back,\u201d Bortz\u00a0 said.<\/p>\n
Kennedy and Bortz\u2019s brothers, Vince and Robert, settled in Chicago, but Kennedy stayed in Allentown. She worked for Kraft Foods, worshipped at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and supported all events held by the Allentown St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade Committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery neighborhood needs a Rosie,\u201d said parade committee member Lisa Arnold, who called Kennedy a beloved friend, proud Irishwoman and a remarkable goodwill ambassador.<\/p>\n
Arnold said Kennedy\u2019s \u201chospitality and warm heart did not stop at the sidewalk,\u201d adding, \u201cWhen Rose Kennedy said \u2018you\u2019re welcome,\u2019 she meant it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The party was well underway Saturday by the time Tuerk kicked off the 4 p.m. block dedication. The crowd left the sweets and drinks-laden porch and walked across the street to hear tributes from the mayor, Arnold and Kennedy\u2019s eldest daughter, Rachel Kennedy Holmes.<\/p>\n
Kennedy Holmes said she\u2019d largely moved her life to Florida before Kennedy\u2019s illness drew her back to Allentown. Now a member of the parade committee, she thanked the neighborhood and said she felt \u201cblessed to be a part of this family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her mother \u201cwould just be tickled green\u201d by the festivities, Kennedy Holmes said.<\/p>\n
Kennedy\u2019s younger daughter, Meghan Kennedy, led the cheers after the street sign was officially unveiled.<\/p>\n
Kennedy Holmes, 45, and Meghan Kennedy, 40, have kept the party going, Arnold said.<\/p>\n
Tuerk said he ran into Rose Kennedy\u2019s daughters during last year\u2019s St. Patrick\u2019s Day celebrations. When he asked them how their block became the \u201cbest single spot in the city\u201d during the holiday, they told him it was Rosie\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n
The spirit of their mother exemplifies what it means to rally neighbors and make everyone feel welcome, a charge that is more important than ever in \u201congoing, challenging times,\u201d Tuerk said.<\/p>\n
With his encouragement, the parade committee filed for the official block dedication that has now cemented Kennedy\u2019s legacy in Irish-colored steel.<\/p>\n
\u201cAllentown needs more Rose Kennedys all across the city,\u201d Tuerk said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No one passing through the 2000 block of Liberty Street in Allentown\u2019s West End could miss Rose Kennedy\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,433,182,139,28,432],"class_list":["post-145934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-lehigh-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}