Dr. Patrick Kenan, professor emeritus of otolaryngology and a community leader in the arts, died suddenly at his home Monday morning. He was 71.
Kenan, who founded the Durham Savoyards, a Gilbert and Sullivan performance company and worked at the Medical Center for over 40 years, will be remembered for his joyful attitude and tireless commitment to his church and to music and arts in Durham, friends said.
Father Stephen Clark of St. Joseph's Episcopal Church, which Kenan attended for 45 years, said doctors believe Kenan may have suffered a blood clot in the brain.
He said he remembers the former Durham Arts Council director as an intensely personable man who loved to contribute to the church--be it through the choir, which he previously directed and continued to sing with even this past Easter Sunday or through the insights he attained on his trips to the Holy Lands.
"You couldn't not know Pat was there when we were singing. He was always there; he was always on time," Clark said. "His presence is just sort of ubiquitous. St. Joseph's is a very transient place because of its location. We only have a couple people left like Dr. Kenan who have been at the church for that length of time."
Pepper Fluke, who served on the Savoyards and arts council with Kenan, recalled how faithful and hard-working he was. She noted that he stepped in as president of Carolina Cinema Corporation, the organization responsible for the Carolina Theatre, in order to preserve the theater until city bond money could make it financially viable.
"He was devoted to the arts.... Anytime you needed something down and dirty done, you'd call him--painting or anything," Fluke said.
Savoyards president Cathy Lambe recalled how Kenan made her feel welcome when she joined the group he helped found in 1963.
"He liked to connect with people... from singing on stage to offering you a glass of his home-brewed beer," she said.
Lambe added that Kenan had an enthusiasm for living, recalling how he ate up one role in a particular musical in which he played a south pacific island king whom four men would carry about on a throne. "He had so much fun with that," she said.
Kenan is survived by his wife, Julia; children, Daniel, Sarah and John; grandchildren Alexander and Anna; and brother Tom.
A funeral is being planned at the Duke Chapel, and St. Joseph's will offer a requiem Friday night. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be given to St. Joseph's, Carolina Ballet, Emerson Waldorf School, the Savoyards and Duke University Medical Center Cultural Services.
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