Martin N. Kennerup Sr.

Martin N. Kennerup, Sr.

Of Kirkwood

 Martin N. Kennerup, Sr. 87 of Kirkwood passed away on Saturday June 15th at 12:50 pm in the Palliative Care Unit at Binghamton General Hospital after a lengthy illness and stay at Wilson Hospital in Johnson City, NY.

Martin is survived by his son Martin, Jr. ( Kirkwood ) a sister Carolyn ( Binghamton ) and a brother George ( West Windsor ), a niece, several nephews and many friends from farming, hockey, and racing.

Martin enjoyed his daily conversations with friends Scott & Karen Ferguson, Grant Buck, Jr. , Pete Hurlburt, and Randy Williams. He was also especially proud of his son and his award-winning writing accomplishments and his nephew Raymond who became a tireless worker just like himself.

Martin and his family were 50-year season ticket holders of Binghamton hockey, he loved watching the New York Rangers and his trips to Madison Square Garden. Also, he loved his time with his Ranger Women; Sophia, Mary, and Dina Papastratis.

Martin was a hard worker his entire life and he was very meticulous about his work and how it looked. He loved working so much that he would continue to work even if that person owed him money, that’s how much he loved work. He took over the family dairy farm and ran it successfully for 42 years until major kidney surgery in 1992 forced him to sell the cows to pay the medical bills. Showing that he had a strong work ethic while operating the farm, he also picked up and delivered the milk from all the area farms ( pre milk tanker days ) to the creamery in Deposit every day. If that wasn’t enough, he operated a garage in West Windsor for a few years and was involved in auto racing at the local Five Mile Point Speedway. After recovering from kidney surgery Martin continued to work the farm for 31 more years selling hay and straw to his loyal customers.

Martin also built pet caskets, so people could bury their animals just like humans did for their deceased loved ones. He also did maintenance and groundskeeping at Allen Veterinary Hospital for over 20 years.

When Martin and his brother George got into auto racing at a young age, they shared driving duties. Martin realized that he wasn’t a very good driver and got out from behind the wheel to become a car owner and head wrench on his cars until he sold out in 1976. Some of the drivers that drove for Martin were Bob MacGeorge, Joe Donahue, Sr., Don Diffendorf, Sr., Pete Cordes, and Bob Sanderson, Jr., with notable accomplishments being the car owner of the car driven by Pete Cordes who won the last ever race at Mid-State Speedway in Morris, NY. Winning the Southern Tier 100 at Five Mile Point with Joe Donahue, Sr. behind the wheel after the car sat in the barn all race season due to a driver / owner disagreement. The car was brought out on race day, started up and won the feature at night. Being the season long Championship car owner at Five Mile Point in 1965.

After selling out Martin enjoyed going to the races all over the Northeast, especially trips to Fulton, Grandview, Orange County, Hagerstown, and Port Royal. Martin through Kennerup Farms also sponsored racecars, notably Randy Kisacky Racing with drivers Charlie Castle, Jeff Heotzler, and Chuck Akulis. He also sponsored cars from Rolfe Schnur Racing, Kevand Cross Racing, and Art Broas Racing for driver Sammy Rogers, Jr., also sponsored Barefoot Bob McCreadie.

Martin to stay busy, also started to work at Five Mile Point Speedway for Dan Harpell doing track maintenance and track prep. Then moved to Penn – Can Speedway to help Reed Miller and Al Wilcox for their tenure and Dan Harpell when he took over Penn Can in the same duties. Finally, he went back to Five Mile to help Andrew Harpell when he ran the track for a couple of years. He also spent some time working at Thunder Mountain for George Hoffmeir and at Skyline for Frank & Audrey Payne.

At one point in the early 1970’s Martin tried to become a Country and Western singer, albeit for one night and one song. During the yearly family trip to the Bloomsburg Fair, he was called up on stage to sing a duet with mega star at the time Lynn Anderson. While he was attempting to sing the group of 35 friends and relatives who also made the trip were laughing hysterically in the front row, a moment no one ever forgot.

Martin was a humorous person in his own way, he didn’t care what he said or how he said it and who he said it to. He liked busting chops and had a nickname for everybody, no matter if he knew them or not. Some of his notable nicknames were cow jockey, turkey farmer, beer muscles, big nuts, and weasel among the cleaner versions of nicknames.

The family would like to Thank the Palliative Team at BGH along with the Wilson ICU doctors and nurses for their professionalism, care, and hard work in taking care of Martin.

The viewing will take place on Tuesday June 25th from 5 to 8 pm at Osterhoudt – Madden Funeral Home ( www.omaddenfh.com ), 69-71  Maple Street, Harpursville, NY 13787. The Funeral will take place on Wednesday June 26th at 11 am with Pastor Scott Ferguson of the Christian Church of Fellowship officiating, burial will take place at the Knox Cemetery in Ouaquaga following the funeral.  Online condolences may be made at:   www.omaddenfh.com.

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