Bill Kennedy remembered as visionary voice for Janesville

JANESVILLE — Three weeks after his death, Bill Kennedy is being remembered as a businessman, friend and cheerleader for Janesville.

Friends and organizations he was connected to are calling Kennedy, who passed away on June 28 at the age of 74, a champion for the city and for the betterment of kids.

William (Bill) Kennedy was born May 23, 1950, in Janesville.

He owned and operated Rock Road Companies, Inc., a road construction firm, with his two brothers. He served as president and most recently as chairman of Rock Road Companies.

He also served as chairman of Forward Janesville’s board of directors, chair of the Forward Janesville Foundation, and was one of the founding partners of the Janesville Jets. He also served as the co-chair of HealthNet of Rock County’s capital campaign and served on the Agrace Foundation board.

Kennedy also served four terms as president of the Janesville Country Club.

John Beckord, a past president of Forward Janesville from 2000 to 2021, knew Kennedy for years as a member of Forward Janesville. Beckord said if he had to make a list of ways Kennedy was involved in Janesville he would be writing for days.

“It’s easier to make a list of major projects that Bill wasn’t a key player in then it is to make a list of those that he was,” Beckord said. “He seemed to have his fingers and his powerful voice behind so many community enhancement projects.”

Beckord said Kennedy was instrumental in pulling together millions of dollars in public funding to expand I-39/90. He also played a key role in community enhancement projects such as expanding the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport and raising money to redevelop downtown Janesville.

A visionary

Beckford said he and Kennedy were sitting in the former building that housed Forward Janesville, talking with other business owners from Madison and Rockford on why they should bring their company to Janesville.

They then looked out the window at the adjacent vacant lot filled with broken appliances and cars and saw kids playing. Bill told Beckford they needed to find a way to acquire the lot and do something with it.

“That was the genesis of putting together a project to acquire those properties, tear down a couple of old buildings and redevelop that whole quarter block, which is now the home, not only to Forward Janesville to, but also for five other businesses,” he said. “Bill had that kind of vision.”

Powerful voice

Beckford said Kennedy was a leader who had the respect of others in local leadership roles, and what he said spurred others to action.

He said Kennedy knew how to speak so people would listen — but also when not to speak.

“He was not one of these people who had to hear himself talk all the time,” Beckford said. “He was a great listener, he would process the various points of view that might have been expressed in a meeting. And then he was a master at summing them up and pointing to an action item or direction that we might take as an organization.”

“That is not as common as you might think. This community will really miss that skill set that he demonstrated routinely. My hope, of course, is that other leaders were paying attention, learning from his approach.”

For the kids

Those who knew Kennedy are also remembering him as a huge proponent of Janesville kids.

He worked to get school district referendums passed, and had a special place in his heart for the Boys & Girls Club of Janesville, and its campaign to relocate to a new building.

Boys & Girls Club CEO Rebecca Veium said she worked closely with Kennedy while he was the chair of the capital campaign for the new building.

Veium is not from Janesville; she moved to the city in 2020 when she accepted the CEO job. She said she quickly connected with him and the full extent of his leadership in Janesville became clear as she got to know others in the community, and they shared about their connections with him.

“Bill is such a modest, humble person that he never really was,” Veium said. “I had to hear from other people what his involvement really, truly has been in the community, because it was just not something that Bill talked about. I learned that from talking with other community members over the last couple of years, I learned that he used to coach our kids basketball, way back in the day when we used to have a basketball team.He just did those things and never made a fuss about it.”

She said Kennedy was the club’s biggest champion.

“The Boys & Girls Club always had a special place in his heart, and he will always have a special place in ours,” she said.

At the annual Forward Janesville awards luncheon in April, Kennedy accepted an award on behalf of Rock Road Companies. He was wearing a Boys & Girls Club sweatshirt and concluded his speech with a plea to luncheon attendees to donate to the club and to the new building capital campaign.

“He said to me afterwards, ‘Rebecca, it would have taken me months to be able to get in front of all those businesses, and they were right here in one room. I would have been foolish to not say something.’ That was just who he was,” Veium said.

“He believed in this project and our mission so much. He just always spoke about it from his heart. For me to have somebody like Bill, such a leader in our community, just reiterated to me his absolute trust in our organization, an absolute commitment to supporting our mission and ultimately supporting and investing in our youth. He really, truly saw the impact that we had. He saw the need, and he understood what our goal was.”

Kennedy said in a campaign video that investing in youth was never a bad idea. If fact, he said, it’s a necessary idea.

“Local youth are the next generation that will lead Janesville and more kids are needing help,” Kennedy also said in a release when he was chosen to chair the capital campaign in May of 2023. “Not all kids have someone at home when they get home from school, and the club gives them a safe place to go.”

Veium said she is a better person because of Kennedy and Janesville is a better place.

Beckford said Kennedy treated everyone with the same level of respect.

“He had a passion for making this community as good as it possibly can be.”