Tony Kennedy was the first resident of The Lantern to participate in a new memory-care program, “This Is My Life.” Once a month a resident is honored with a trip to their former workplace or an event that focuses on a favorite hobby. Kennedy bought Wally’s Restaurant on McCallie Avenue in 1971 from Wallace “Wally” Alexander. He owned it and the East Ridge Wally’s, which he opened in 1989, until his retirement last year.For more than 40 years, Tony Kennedy was the face of Wally’s Restaurant on McCallie Avenue. He purchased the restaurant in 1971 when fast food was the trend, yet he built it into a hometown landmark where people from all walks of life sat down for a meat-and-three meal.
Building on that success, Kennedy opened a second Wally’s in East Ridge in 1989.
“This is a man whose whole world revolved around Wally’s,” says Gary Meadows, who succeeded Kennedy as owner of the McCallie Avenue location. “Every day – even on holidays when we were closed – he would be at my house at 6 a.m., ready to go to Wally’s.
“Wally’s is what it is today because of him and only him.”
But the health problems associated with aging caught up with Kennedy last year, resulting in his retirement and a move to The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence on Shallowford Road. Alisha Landes, new director of The Lantern, says residents range from mild to severe in the level of their Alzheimer’s symptoms, which can cause loss of memory, loss of reasoning and fading motor skills.