Before Kevin, there was his grandfather Thomas M. Mclnerny. He and partner Frank O'Dea operated the Mclnerny and O'Dea Funeral Home in a building Mclnerny owned at 224 W. First St., Elmira, from 1928 until his death at age 49 in 1932. The original Thomas M. Mclnerny died when his son, Thomas M. McInerny II was just 9 years old.

After going through school and serving in the Marines during World War II, Thomas M. Mclnerny II graduated from the Simmons School of Mortuary Science in Syracuse. He and partner Walter MacPherson opened the MacPherson and McInerny Funeral Home at Roe Avenue and Walnut Street in Elmira. In 1955 Thomas M. Mclnerny II went on his own and opened the Thomas M. Mclnerny Funeral Home at 113 Walnut St., Elmira. In addition to operating the funeral home, Thomas worked for 35 years at Schweizer Aircraft and he also served as a Chemung County Legislator from 1974 until his death in 1992.

Thomas, and his wife Barbara Howland Mclnerny,  raised 13 children; seven sons and six daughters all of whom  but one daughter survive. One son, Tom Jr., graduated from the Simmons School and worked as a funeral director in Rochester for a time before returning to Elmira and moving into another career.

Kevin Mclnerny is number six in the line of the 13 children. He graduated with a degree in Mortuary Science from Hudson Valley Community College in 1978 and completed his one-year apprenticeship at Herson Funeral Home in Ithaca. Kevin and his wife, Eileen Foy Mclnerny, moved back to Elmira and Kevin formed a partnership with his father in 1983. At the death of his father, Kevin became the owner of  Thomas M. Mclnerny Funeral Home. Kevin and Eileen are raising 3 boys, Patrick Ryan, Timothy Foy and Kevin John.