John Kennedy (4) (1918–2016)

[excerpted from National Association of Fire Investigators Facebook page]
John Kennedy was born in Chicago, Illinois in April 24, 1918. He attended Northwestern University in Chicago.

John served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War. He enlisted as an yeoman 3rd class in 1941, prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and was amongst the first U.S. forces to see fighting during the war. He was assigned to the USS Langley when she embarked on an ill-fated mission to resupply the Joint Asiatic Fleet in February 1942. He survived the sinking of the Langley, only to be assigned to USS Pecos which was sunk a few days later. Surviving the war, he would go on to retire as a Commander from the U.S. Naval Reserves after a career spanning more than three decades.

After the war, Jack joined the Mutual Insurance Investigation Bureau in 1947. After being assigned to a series of fire investigations, he decided to make fire his specialty. After learning all he could, he left the Bureau in 1955 to found John A. Kennedy and Associates, the world's first – and now oldest – private investigation company dedicated to fire and explosion investigation.

John served as special advisor to Mayor Richard J. Daley in Chicago in the construction of the Chicago Fire Academy, completed in 1961.

John founded the National Association of Fire Investigators in Chicago in 1961. Under his leadership NAFI became the first organization, public or private sector, to certify fire and explosion investigators in 1983. He served as NAFI's president until 2012.

John also wrote some of the earliest books on fire and explosion investigation, including his first books Fire and Arson Investigation (1962, 1977). He co-wrote Fires and Explosions (1985) and Explosion Investigation and Analysis (1990) with his son Patrick.

He passed away on January 8, 2016 at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona.