Bicycle crash kills local surgeon

 

MARGARET ELLIS, Clark County, Washington Columbian staff writer

April 5, 2004; Page c3

 

A Clark County plastic surgeon died Saturday after a bicycle accident in Maine.

 

Dr. Stephen Kennedy , 63, who established his practice, Plastic Surgery Clinic, in Vancouver in 1979, was visiting his son and grandson, who live in Maine. His wife, Jan Newby Kennedy , said from their Washougal home that her husband was an avid bicyclist.

 

"It was very much a passion of his," she said.

 

"It was one of the loves of his life."

 

She and Kennedy had been married for 15 years.

 

Jan's previous husband, Bernard Newby, 46, was killed in a bicycle accident in Vermont in 1987. The couple were riding with two friends when Newby was struck by a car. Newby was a lawyer in Vancouver.

 

In Saturday's accident, Kennedy was riding about 3:45 p.m. in Acadia National Park with his son, Andrew, when he struck a gatelike barrier, according to park officials. The barrier is used to stop vehicle traffic from entering that part of the road during the winter.

 

Kennedy was taken to Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he died Saturday night.

 

He was wearing a helmet, his wife said.

 

She said that Kennedy was in Maine to see a choral concert his 9-year-old grandson would be singing in.

 

Kennedy himself loved to sing. He was a choir member "before his voice turned," his wife said.

 

He sang at his church, Columbia Presbyterian. "He was very interested in his church and the Lord."

 

She described Kennedy as "a fabulous husband, a fabulous companion." Every Tuesday he brought her flowers.

 

"How's that for being spoiled rotten?" she said.

 

In addition to his wife, Kennedy is survived by three children, two stepchildren and six grandchildren.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.