KING CITY — Staff from the City of King as well as personnel from the King City Police Department hosted a vigil last Wednesday for Sgt. Ryan Kenedy, who died unexpectedly while on duty on March 25.
Community members were able to fill out cards to Kenedy’s family and share their stories of his impact and service.
“It’s been a long two weeks and it’s nice to see the community come out to honor Sgt. Ryan Kenedy,” said King City Chief of Police James Hunt. “Ryan was simply taken from us too soon. His loss has deeply impacted all of us at the police department, city staff and within the community.”
Hunt recounted Kenedy’s life. Kenedy was born in 1982 and went to Stevenson High School in Pebble Beach, where he was an athlete and participated in math competitions. He then attended Trinity College and University of Santa Barbara to study business economics. He enjoyed singing and fellow officers would hear him singing in the locker room.
Kenedy met his wife, Soledad, in 2010, and married in 2015. He graduated police academy in 2014 and began working with KCPD one month later. He was promoted to detective in 2020, then to sergeant in 2021. While on duty with KCPD, he died from a medical emergency.
Kenedy is the second KCPD officer to lose his life in the line of duty. In 1926, Clarence Dodge died while on a motorcycle pursuing a traffic violator.
“I feel very fortunate to live in an area where officers return from duty on a regular basis,” Hunt said.
Hunt first met Kenedy in 2020, while Hunt was a captain for Greenfield Police Department.
“I found him to be a very intelligent and analytical person,” Hunt said. “He was a deep thinker.”
Hunt shared his favorite story of Kenedy, where they were dealing with a situation that needed updates throughout the day. Upon each update, Kenedy would begin the information from the beginning with information that had already been discussed before adding the update. This cycle repeated half a dozen times.
Monterey County Supervisor Chris Lopez spoke about the impact of Kenedy and his sacrifice to the community.
“This family deserves our recognition of his sacrifice to our community,” Lopez said. “Sgt. Kenedy’s commitment to us was consistent through and through, and to the very end. That commitment to us led to his love for and by this community.”
As chief, Hunt said he sees officer actions in the logs, which he admitted was a one-dimensional view.
“We usually know the really good or bad things, but we don’t know every little detail of what went on during a shift,” Hunt said. “Ryan was such a quiet and humble individual, he never felt the need to come to us and tell us about those little things he was doing out in the community that made a difference.”
It wasn’t until Kenedy passed that Hunt and the department learned about the impact of their fallen sergeant.
“We started seeing community members responding to our posts with stories of how he impacted their lives, things he did to change their lives, just what an all-around good guy he was,” Hunt said.
One of Hunt’s favorite stories from the community was someone who relayed information from an at-risk youth in the area, where he discovered Kenedy would stop by and shoot baskets with the youth and discuss the error of their ways.
“Over the past decade, Kenedy and I faced many challenges, but we were also able to witness first-hand the positive change that our hard work had on the department and the community,” Sgt. Josh Partida said.
“It was an honor to have him serve our city,” added King City Mayor Pro Tem Carlos DeLeon.
Lopez noted that he has seen officers use smaller departments like King City as springboards to larger careers, but Kenedy remained with King City for more than a decade.
“When he did speak, it was with kindness and his laugh and smile were truly contagious,” Partida said. “In his passing, we in law enforcement and in our community have gained a guardian angel.”
“Ryan was a quiet, humble and loving man,” Hunt said. “He served his family, his friends and community well. He was a good officer who came to work and did his best. And he will be missed by his family, friends and everyone that knew him.”
All the speakers reminded those in attendance to honor Kenedy’s memory through action.
“Keep his goal and mission alive,” Lopez said.
First Baptist Church Pastor Ken Reese called on the community to put good intentions into action, such as volunteering or even showing support for police with a blue star.
