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PRINCETON: Service honors Michael Kenwood’s memory

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   One year ago, Michael Kenwood came to the area of Rosedale Road and Green Meadows Park to do the thing he loved doing as a member of the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad.
   One year later to the day, family and friends returned Tuesday for a memorial near where Mr. Kenwood gave his life in an attempted water rescue during Tropical Storm Irene.
   Mr. Kenwood’s widow, Beth, wore his EMS shield as she sat in the front row with other family members during the memorial. Afterward, a park bench in Mr. Kenwood’s honor was unveiled — pointed in the direction of Rosedale Road.
   ”We miss Michael, and we’ll never forget his sacrifice he made to the service of his community,” said Frank Setnicky, director of the rescue squad.
   Though none of Mr. Kenwood’s family spoke at the event, a list of political dignitaries talked of his character.
   ”Michael Kenwood’s dedication to our community will live on in the department. The volunteers that follow will embody Michael’s spirit of service and generosity, said Township Deputy Mayor Liz Lempert.
   In her remarks, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno recalled reading a story about why Mr. Kenwood decided to be a first responder as a college student with the Brandeis University medical corps.
   ”He signed up because he was in a car accident and he felt helpless at the time. And instead of sitting back and complaining about his helplessness, he stood up and did something about it, just like you in uniform have done too,” she said to the first responders in attendance. “That accident was a catalyst of change for him.”
   She called Mr. Kenwood’s death a “catalyst for change, a catalyst for you in uniform to go run towards the fire, toward the flood, towards the natural disaster.”
   On Sept. 28, 2011, Mr. Kenwood and fellow squad member Peter Simon were tied together trying to reach a partially submerged car, although they did not know at the time the vehicle was empty. The rescue was aborted, but Mr. Kenwood fell and he and Mr. Simon were swept away. The two got caught around a tree, with Mr. Simon cutting the rope and Mr. Kenwood being carried away by the waters.
   Mr. Kenwood, pulled out of the water by a member of the Rocky Mount Rescue Fire Department, was taken to the Princeton Medical Center but died later that night. Only 39, he left behind a wife and young daughter.
   ”I know what he did, and the people here know what he did. And he paid a price that he didn’t intend to pay,” his father, Martin, said after the ceremony.
   Michael Kenwood’s mother, Sheila Lobel, recalled that her son considered the squad as a part of his family.
   In the year since his son’s death, Mr. Kenwood said it has been tough. There have been events in his honor, and Mr. Kenwood said on one level it’s nice to see his son’s name remembered.
   ” But in another matter, it’s difficult,” Mr. Kenwood said, “because as soon as you begin to heal, you get scratched again. And that’s the tough part.”
   The rescue squad has a second event, a fundraiser at 7 p.m. on Sept.23 at Princeton High School to support the Kenwood family and the squad.