Memorable Manitobans: Nancy Bisset Kennedy (1912-2005)

Journalist.

Born at Winnipeg in 1912 to Helen Thomas (1885-1941) and Ernest Henry Bisset (1866-1930), she loved reading and writing from a young age and published her first story in the local paper at age eleven. She began a career in the 1930s as a newspaper reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. During the Second World War, she joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, stationed at Calgary, Alberta where she worked in public relations. During the war, she married Sergeant Alexander Gardner “Scotty” Kennedy, with whom she had one daughter.

After completing her stint in the Army, she and her husband moved back to Winnipeg, where she continued writing a lifestyles column called “Nancy Notices” for the Free Press. Her life in Winnipeg with Scotty, local horse owner and businessman, included bridge games, Junior League, family time, and many friendships. A lifelong reader with an interest in current events, she kept everyone up to date on world and local events.

As a widow, she moved to Vancouver, British Columbia to be with her family, and then in 1995 moved with her family to Calgary, Alberta. She died there on 26 February 2005.

Sources:

Death registration [Ernest H. Bisset], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Nancy Notices,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 September 1942.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 2 March 2005.

Nancy Kennedy, O’Connor/Raby Family Tree, Ancestry.

This page was prepared by Lois Braun.

Page revised: 22 January 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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