February 11, 2010

My colleagues and I share with many thousands of Bahamians a sense of great loss with the passing of Mrs. Elizabeth (Betty) Kelly Kenning, OBE, one of our truly great citizens who contributed so much in so many ways to the development of our Bahamian society.

Mrs. Kelly was a businesswoman in a Bahamian family noted for accomplishments in the commercial world and was the owner of the Betty K shipping business.
She was an outstanding athlete, generous patron of sports, humanitarian and animal lover. Mrs. Kelly very early contributed to the glorious athletic history of The Bahamas when she competed locally and internationally and won many awards for swimming.

Her love of this particular sport led her to contribute much to the development of aquatic sports in The Bahamas over the years, culminating in the extraordinarily generous gift to the Bahamian people that made the development of the Betty Kenning Aquatic Facility at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre possible.

Mrs. Kenning was noted for her generosity to other causes as well, especially animal welfare. She characteristically gave of her time serving as President of the Bahamas Humane Society and funded the construction of the new animal hospital.

This extraordinary Bahamian lady will be sadly missed by a very grateful nation and especially among those in the sports community and animal lovers. My colleagues and I extend to her family and close friends our deepest sympathy.  She will be long remembered.