Chapter 4

Charles (Károly) was the youngest child of the Steve (István) Kemeny family. He graduated from Holy Redeemer High in Detroit in 1941. The story I was told was that he was an exceptionally good baseball player and the St. Louis Cardinals were interested in signing him to a baseball contract. The story goes that he was too young to sign on his own and grandmother was opposed to the idea. Instead, he joined the army in 1942 and was shipped overseas to fight in WWII. There he took part in campaigns in North Africa and later through Italy. Finally, he was shot and killed in France in August 1944 while manning a machine gun while his fellow troops retreated from an ambush by German soldiers. For his heroism, he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star. This is the story that was told to me when his body was brought back home for burial after the war.

My grandparents paid to have his body exhumed and shipped back to America for burial here. As a twelve year old, I vividly remember the funeral parade that took place from Holy Cross Church through Delray to Woodmere Cemetery. It was a slow walking funeral with a military escort. I can still hear the drums beating as we slowly traveled through the side streets. At the gravesite, the soldiers again beat the drums and were brought to attention by the bugle as they stood next to the American Flag- covered casket.  The Flag was ceremoniously folded and handed to my grandparents. Finally, a twenty-one-gun salute then was fired as the casket was lowered. I didn’t expect the gunfire, so the loud sound scared me where I was standing so close to the guns. I’ll never forget the shock of that gunfire.

Later, a community center building and playfield (Charles P. Kemeny Playfield) in Detroit was named in my uncle’s honor. It is located on Fort Street just south of Shaffer Ave. There was a ceremony to dedicate this facility in his name. Most of the family attended this dedication over which Detroit Mayor Miriani and Father Andás Jakab, pastor of Holy Cross, presided.

Additionally, his name is listed along with all the other parish soldiers on a WWII memorial statue in front of the rectory at Holy Cross Church.