Edgar Douglas Kenna, Jr. did it all. Better known as Doug,
Kenna excelled in every aspect of his life. A star athlete and successful
businessman, Kenna served his nation as a soldier and in public service.
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Kenna attended Central High
School, where he was an outstanding tailback on the football team, an all-state
basketball player and the state singles and doubles tennis champion. He was
also good at track, and hoped to one day make the Olympics. No doubt he would
have, except that he wanted to go to West Point even more. After graduating
from Central High School, however, Kenna failed to get an appointment to West
Point (he was instead offered a chance to enter the Naval Academy, which he
declined) so he enrolled at the University of Mississippi and played for one
season on the Ole Miss football team. Two of his freshman squad teammates went
on to great careers at Ole Miss, both of them future All-Americans: Barney
Poole and Charlie Conerly.
The next year (1942), Kenna left Oxford after securing an
appointment to West Point. At the military academy, he was again a star
athlete, a cadet captain, regimental commander and was president of his class.
In three years at West Point, Kenna earned eight varsity letters in three
different sports: tennis, basketball and football. As the quarterback for the
1944 Army football team, he led the team to an undefeated season and a national
championship. Running a perfect "T" formation with the great Doc
Blanchard in the backfield, Army scored an average of 56 points per game that
season. Popular with his fellow cadets, Kenna was known as "Rebel" at
West Point (which was somewhat ironic, as Army played at Yankee Stadium at the
time). For his accomplishments, he was named to the first team All-America
squad in 1944. In basketball, Doug was a three-year starter at guard and again
played on an undefeated team, one of only two in West Point history. In tennis,
he was the team captain, and led the cadets to an undefeated season in that sport
as well. Lettering in and excelling in three different sports is surely a feat
unrivaled in college sports. Of course, all this was accomplished while
maintaining the strict academic and conduct codes required by those attending
West Point. Doug Kenna finished second in his class.
After graduation from the military academy, Kenna was
assigned to the 35th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division in Europe (luckily
World War II had just ended). After service overseas, he returned to the United
States in 1948 and served with the 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Meade. The next
year, he resigned his commission. Before finishing his time in the army,
though, he returned to West Point as an
assistant football coach in the fall and helped guide two more teams to unbeaten
seasons. So, after leaving the army, it was natural that Kenna would return full
time to his alma mater as a coach, where he remained for three years.
In 1952, Doug Kenna entered the business world, first with
the Avco corporation and then a five-year stint with Mississippi Power and
Light. In 1959, he returned to Avco, where, among other duties, he was in
charge of developing payload reentry systems for ICBM missiles. As vice
president of the company's Missles, Space and Electronics Group and later in charge
of marketing and planning, Kenna was instrumental in the nation's defense
during the Cold War era.
Doug Kenna became President of Fuqua Industries in 1968, and
two years later joined a financial services and marketing firm. In 1973, he was
elected president of the National Association of Manufacturers, where he
founded the United States/USSR Trade and Economic Council. Four years later, he
was named president of the Carrier Corporation and in 1981 was director of G.L.
Ohrstrom & Co., an investment firm.
As if this weren't enough, Kenna served on numerous boards,
including Eisenhower College, Northeastern University, the Vincent T. Lombardi
Cancer Foundation, the United Way, the Boy Scouts of America, the Association
of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, and the National Football
Foundation and member of the College Hall of Fame. He also served two U.S.
Presidents as the chairman of
investigative committees, and was awarded the Freedom Foundation Medal.
In 1994, he was honored with the Distinguished Graduate Award at West Point.
A member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and the
Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, Doug Kenna died on January 28 at age 88. He
will be laid to rest at Lakewood Memorial Park on February 11 with a memorial
service a few days later at his beloved West Point. Doug Kenna was a remarkable
man, someone who seemed to excel at everything. I regret that I did not know
about his incredible story until I read his obituary in yesterday’s paper.
Photo and Image Sources:
(1) Kenna as cadet: http://www.footballfoundation.org
(2) West Point team: http://www.fanbase.com
(3) Magazine: http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com
(4) Avco ad: http://www.flickr.com
(5) Kenna: http://www.legacy.com
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