11 April 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — On Sunday, a Wichita house exploded and killed Kendal James. Now family and friends are remembering the impact he had on others.
Randi Carter, Vice President of Beauties & Beasts Animal Rescue in Wichita, met the James family in 2015. He says Kendal was a great dad with a kind heart.
“How many guys do you know that will wake up in the middle of the night and say ‘Babe, let’s go get this dog,’ and they take this smelly mangey mutt of a dog and throw it in their $40,000 truck? They just don’t that right guys don’t do that. Kendal did that. That’s who Kendal was,” said Beauties and Beasts Vice President Randi Carter. She added, “He would do whatever it was that needed to be done, and he would ask no questions about it.”
Over the years, Kendal and his wife, Kelly James, helped Beauties & Beasts rescue and foster animals in need.
“Even one that actually passed away that was in that explosion, she was completely feral, and Kendal had that dog laying in his arms, you know that was the type of person that he was and his wife is,” said Carter.
Three of the James family’s dogs died in the fire.
Carter said now it’s the animal rescue’s turn to help Kelly.
“All the hours that her and her husband put into our community that we all recognize it, and that’s why I want the community to really know who these people are,” said Carter.
Beauties & Beasts set up a GoFundMe to help the James family.