PITTSBURGH Fallen Marine remembered as self-motivated, funny

Patrick Kenny was killed Oct. 6 when a roadside explosive hit his humvee.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- As friends and family prepare to bury Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Brian Kenny on Monday, they remembered him as a motivated young man who made people laugh.
Kenny, 20, of the Pittsburgh suburb of Emsworth, was killed Oct. 6 in Fallujah, Iraq, when a roadside explosive hit a humvee in which he was traveling.
"You didn't have to get Pat motivated. Pat was motivated 24 hours a day," said his former football coach Jim Wehner. "No matter what was going on in practice, Pat said something to lighten the mood."
Marine Cpl. Ken Molenda remembers when Kenny, in the Avonworth High School hallway, would give him a look that always made Molenda chuckle.
"That's the way he was," Molenda said. "He could just look at you and make you laugh."
Molenda returned home to Emsworth on Friday after serving seven months in Iraq. He and fellow Marines had just checked into a Palm Springs, Calif., hotel to celebrate the end of their tour when his mother called with the news of his friend's death.
He couldn't celebrate after hearing his friend was killed. "I just left," Molenda said.
Patrick Kenny was the captain of his high school football team and a wrestler. He left for boot camp a week before his graduation ceremony. His sister, Katy Kenny, who recently graduated from Marine boot camp, was the football team manager for four years.
Charles Kenny said his son's death is "just a great big hole in the center of my chest."
"He's a better man than I ever was," he said of his son.
Hundreds of people have stopped by the family's home to offer condolences, he said.
Family members appreciate the kind words of support and comfort, but are requesting privacy as they prepare for the funeral, Charles Kenny said.