Figure Skating
Skater Kennedy Kucher dies at 72

By Craig Smith
Seattle Times staff reporter

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One of the "Kennedy kids," the brother-sister skating pair who put Seattle on the world ice-skating map after World War II, has died at age 72.

Karol Kennedy Kucher, who skated to fame with her brother, Peter Kennedy, died Friday in Swedish Hospital of pneumonia.

The Kennedys won six national titles, the world pairs championship in 1950 and the silver medal in the 1952 Winter Olympic Games. They had finished sixth in the 1948 Olympics.

They were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1991.

Peter, who lives on Mercer Island, switched sports after the 1952 Olympics and almost made the 1956 Olympic team as a skier.

One of Mrs. Kucher's daughters, Kathryn Etherington of Wenatchee, said yesterday her mother rarely talked about her skating past.

"Occasionally, if we asked her a bunch of questions we'd get something," Etherington said. "Skating was one chapter of her life. She got married and started a new one."

Mrs. Kucher and her husband, Robert C. Kucher, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last December. They lived in Seattle.

In a 1979 interview, Mrs. Kucher recalled how her family "helped hide a young Czech skater who had decided to defect" at the 1950 world championships. The man went on to make a life for himself in Canada.

Mrs. Kucher was born in Shelton and the family lived in Olympia before moving to Seattle.
 
Their father, the late Dr. Michael Kennedy, once told an interviewer that his son and daughter "didn't have to learn to skate. They could skate the minute they got out onto the ice."

Mrs. Kucher graduated from St. Nicholas School and attended Colorado College and the University of Washington.

In 1994, she opened a children's clothing store, The Original Children's Shop in Madison Park. Today, it is operated by a daughter and granddaughter.

A private family service was held.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Children's Hospital Foundation and Guild Association.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com