By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The pain of Michael Kenwood’s death has not gone away, not for his family who cannot believe he’s no longer here, or for the members of the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad who remember him as a fallen hero.
His smiling face was on the cover of the program for a benefit concert Sunday to pay tribute to Mr. Kenwood a little more than a year since he died after an attempted water rescue during Tropical Storm Irene.
Family and friends came to the Princeton High School auditorium for a silent auction and a performance from Broadway Sings, with all the night’s proceeds supporting the squad and Mr. Kenwood’s widow and 4-year-old daughter.
Local merchants and others donated auction items, while the performers donated their time and talent.
”We’re looking forward to this,” said Martin Kenwood, Michael’s father, before the show started.
Squad president Peter Simon said there was no set fundraising goal for the evening, on a night that was “really not about the money,” in his words. Rather, he said, it was to celebrate the man Mr. Kenwood was, the man that Mr. Simon was with during an ill-fated rescue mission last year in the township.
Mr. Kenwood, a 39-year-old resident of East Windsor, was a lawyer who also ran a computer consulting business. Married, he and his wife, Elizabeth Frenkel, were also bringing up their young daughter.
He had been a volunteer with the squad, someone who possessed a do-anything mentality. He made sure that he made it into Princeton to be with the squad even if roads were in bad shape, a testament to his dedication, when he went out in the early morning hours of Aug. 28.
”Michael was special. There was nothing he wouldn’t do,” said squad Capt. Robert Allen.
On that day, Mr. Kenwood was tethered to Mr. Simon as they tried to reach a partially submerged car on Rosedale Road thinking there might be someone inside. An accident happened when Mr. Kenwood lost his footing, as he and Mr. Simon were in the water.
Mr. Kenwood was pulled out but never recovered. He died later that day at the Princeton hospital.
Members of Broadway Sings were touched by his death, having had a connection to the family. Mr. Kenwood had done some legal work for the concert production company, and Martin Kenwood had provided money to help the group get off the ground.
This was the second local event in as many months honoring Mr. Kenwood. Last month, family, members of the squad and others came to Green Meadows Park, not far from the spot where Mr. Kenwood lost his life, for a memorial on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy.
Going to these events is not easy, said Sheila Lobel, his mother, who likened it to having her heart opened again. She said the hard part is seeing pictures of her son. Yet she was sure to offer kinds words about the rescue squad.
”The squad really cared about him,” she said.

