Deb Kennedy of Crawford is in her 15th year working at Fort Robinson State Park, including the last 13 years as the superintendent. She said she loves working in a beautiful state park that is rich in history, attracts nearly 300,000 visitors a year, and is a big source of pride for not only the Crawford community but also for many other communities in the region.
JEFF FIELDER Editor
CRAWFORD – Deb Kennedy doesn’t hesitate to answer when asked what she likes best about her job as the superintendent at Fort Robinson State Park.
“It’s the people,” she said. “I love the people I work with, and I love all the people who visit here from all over the world.”
The 63-year-old Kennedy grew up 18 miles north of Crawford and only 3 miles away from Fort Robinson State Park, but until about 15 years ago, she never really thought about working at the state park.
Shortly after she and her high school sweetheart, Jeff, graduated from Crawford High School in 1974, they got married and lived in Marsland, which is about 20 miles south of Crawford. They decided to move back into the town of Crawford, where they bought and operated a gas station, J&D Standard, from 1977 to 2005. Jeff was also a mechanic there.
They didn’t want to close the gas station in 2005; however, new industry rules and regulations forced the Kennedys to make a tough decision.
“To keep it open, we would have needed to dig up all of the gas pumps and re-do all of that,” Deb said. “We decided that we didn’t want to invest that much time and energy into setting it back up again.”
Were the Kennedy’s heartbroken?
“I think it was for my husband, but not for me,” Deb said, laughing. “I got to see my husband a little more that way.”
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