Kennedy R. Shibles Jr., 88

Kennedy Ralph Shibles Jr., 88, of Tilton, passed away peacefully at his home with family by his side on March 14, 2026.

Kennedy was born in Franklin, eight weeks early, on June 24, 1937, and weighed 3.5 pounds. He came out a fighter and remained a strong person for the rest of his life. He lived through many incidents that would have killed most people, but he survived them all.

Kennedy was raised primarily in Franklin and Boscawen. He was predeceased by his wife of 65 years, Margaret (LaPlante) Shibles, his parents, Kennedy R. Shibles Sr. and Laura (Leboeuf) Shibles, his younger brother Craig Shibles, and his great-granddaughter Riley Evangelo.

Kennedy attended schools in Penacook, and graduated from Penacook High School in 1957.

Ken and his high school sweetheart, Margaret, were also married in 1957. Together they embarked on a life of love, adventure, hard work, faith and commitment. They cleared some land in Canterbury, and started building their dream house by hand, not realizing that the dream would never end. They spent many years tinkering and puttering, always trying to improve their beloved homestead. Their home was always the gathering place to many family and friends. Eventually they had to downsize and lived in Tilton, for the remainder of their years.

Ken worked at various jobs, sometimes 2-3 jobs at a time to support his family. His employment for close to 40 years was as a mental health worker at the NH State Hospital. Ken will be most remembered for his generosity, lending a helping a hand to anyone, his gift of gab (he could talk for hours), his ingenuity for creating inventions to make life easier or better, and last but not least, his love of Heinz ketchup.

Ken leaves his children, James Shibles and wife Betsey of Claremont, Scott Shibles and wife Lauren of Penacook, Pamela (Shibles) Washburn and husband Kevin of Tilton, and Wendy Evangelo and husband Tom of Northfield; his grandchildren, Lily, Jacqueline, Derek, Abby, Jessica, Travis, Caitlyn, Rebecca, Jacob, Brandon and Alex; and great-grandchildren Griffin, Ashleigh, Daxton, Rhys, Kaiden, Trinette, Landon, Blake, Tanner and Alexander.

A celebration of life will be held  from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 23, at The Barn at Bull Meadow, 63 Bog Road, Concord, for all family and friends.

The family would like to thank the Franklin VNA and Hospice for their loving care.

The Thibault-Neun Funeral Home in Franklin is assisting the family with arrangements.