Anne Elizabeth Shannon was born in April 1897 in Illinois, according to the 1900 Federal Census of Chicago. Subsequent census records give her birth place as Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Thomas Shannon, born in Illinois, and Louisa Kleasner, born in Massachusetts. In 1900, Thomas was a Switchman on the Railroad. Anne's only sibling that year was Mary, born in February 1899.

In the 1910 census, the family is found in Hopewell, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Annie E. was 13, Mary Ann was 11, and they had two more sisters, Josephine F. and Katherine A., as well as two brothers, Thomas T. amd Patrick F. The father was a foreman of a labor gang.

Anne Elizabeth Shannon married Francis "Frank" DeSales Kenny on April 29, 1918 in Woodlawn, Beaver County. Their first child, Francis, was born in Pennsylvania about 1919, and daughter, Mary (Louise), was born there about 1921. The family moved to Detroit, Michigan and three more children - Elizabeth, Patricia and William - were born in that state prior to the 1930 census. Husband, Frank, born in Georgia, was a die maker in an auto factory.

In 1940, the family was living in Royal Oak, Oakland County, Michigan. Anne was working as a nurse, and her husband was still with the auto company.

Frank Kenny died in March 2, 1963 in Hamilton, Ohio. Born April 29, 1897, Anne Shannon Kenny died May 31, 1977 in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Anne's sister, Mary Ann, graduated from the school of nursing at St. Francis in the Class of 1920.