02/19/2026
LaVonta “Bunny” Kennedy passed from this Earth on February 16, 2026. She was a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She was a teacher, mentor, advisor and choir leader. She was an actress and singer. Bunny lived a life of love, family, faith, and WONDER.
Bunny Kennedy, nee LaVonta Leslie Watson, was born in Shreveport Louisiana on April 28, 1936. She was the daughter of Robert M. Watson and Ola Elizabeth Carnes. She started singing at a young age, even singing “Pennies from Heaven” on the radio at the age of 6. While her father was deployed during World War II, Bunny and her mother kept the home fires burning and showed their love of country with a Victory Garden and collecting scrap metal for ships, planes and weapons. After the war, her family grew by one when her little sister was born. Bunny was 11 when Pamela Jo was welcomed into the family and her new job as big sister—even “2nd Mom—was embraced wholeheartedly.
As a high-schooler, she was involved in Drill Team and held a part time job at Everitt Buelow’s Department store in Houston. She rode the bus from Sharpstown and gave every paycheck to her mother. When Bunny went to college at the University of Texas, she pledged Alpha Phi. As a leader in that sorority, she was given the opportunity to found a brand new chapter at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. And that is where she met her future husband.
Bunny met Rex Kennedy in the student union at Tech, and a mere 3 months later, they were engaged. They married December 28, 1957 while she still had one semester of college-Student Teaching credit-before she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education. Bunny and Rex lived in Canadian Texas, Grady New Mexico, Weslaco, Bryan/College Station, and Lubbock Texas. They were educators; he, an ag teacher and ultimately college professor, and she, an elementary teacher and Gifted and Talented program director and teacher. They had 3 children: Robert Clay, Rex Page II, and Leslie Jo. Bunny loved her children whole heartedly and raised them to love learning and God.
Faith played an important role in Bunny’s life. She was a life long church goer, joining choirs, youth groups, adult groups and Bible studies along with formal church attendance. For the last 15 years, she has been a member of Grace Global Methodist Church (formerly Waller United Methodist) where she has directed the choir and served on committees. She was known for welcoming people into the church and having a giving heart.
For the last 7 years, Bunny has loved and given a home to her beloved dog, WONDER, so named because she was a little Wonder Woman. The bond between those two was unbreakable. They napped, watched television, went on car trips and any other activity you can imagine. She even has a doormat stating, “Welcome to Bunny and Wonder’s House”.
Here at the end of her 89 years, Bunny was still active and living in her own home. She even travelled to the UK for Christmas 2025 to visit her grandson at college. She had 9 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren all of whom she loved “without ceasing.”
That family will forever miss her humor, intelligence, style and flaming red hair. She was an inspiration to all she met. She touched many more lives than she even knew and will leave an enormous empty space for all. Go to Glory, LaVonta.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, February 24th at 4:00pm at the Grace Global Methodist Church, 1206 Smith Street in Waller. A Celebration of Life will be held later in the year in Lubbock, Bunny’s home for 45 years.
LaVonta is in the care of Canon Funeral Home, 1420 Farr St., Waller Texas 77484. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made at Compassion International, a non-profit that Bunny supported and favored for many years.
[Video Tribute & Guest Book @ www.canonfuneralhome.com]
Canon
Funeral Home & Monument Co.
1420 Farr St., Waller, TX 77484
(936) 372-3683
www.canonfuneralhome.com
