Evelyn Rose Mckenna
March 9, 1928 — February 17, 2019
Evelyn Rose McKenna, age 90, died early Sunday morning, February 17, 2019.
A celebration of her life will be held Friday, March 8th at 10:00 AM, in the Milgen Room of Christ Community Church, 4078 Milgen Rd., Columbus, GA.
She was born on March 9, 1928, the second of six children born to John and Emily Calvarese, in Follansbee, West Virginia. She lived through the Great Depression during her elementary school years, and World War II during high school.
Because of the number of men in uniform when Evelyn graduated from high school, college admissions were low and officials scrambled for students. Evelyn was grateful to one such admissions officer who pleaded with her father until he finally consented to her accepting a scholarship to attend Bethany College in West Virginia. Having grown up in a home where Italian and English were equally spoken, Evelyn pursued the study of English, German, Spanish, and French. She was Bethany's first combined modern language major. She went on to teach all four subjects to high school students in Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida.
Evelyn married Richard McKenna in September of 1947. While they began their marriage in Ohio, in 1962, Richard took a job with NCIS which brought twenty-five years of living at naval bases on four continents and in four of our United States. Evelyn was able to use her languages on several of those assignments. While they retired in Orlando, they made their final move to Columbus, Georgia to be near their daughter.
Evelyn and Richard resided together at Spring Harbor of Green Island since 2006. Richard preceded her in death in 2015. The family would like to thank the staff of Spring Harbor for the loving care they showed to both Evelyn and Richard during their last years there.
Surviving Evelyn, are her son, Rick McKenna (Beverly), daughter, Robin Kennedy (Eric), 6 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren, as well as three of her sisters.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. [michaeljfox.org]
Columbus, GA
A celebration of her life will be held Friday, March 8th at 10:00 AM, in the Milgen Room of Christ Community Church, 4078 Milgen Rd., Columbus, GA.
She was born on March 9, 1928, the second of six children born to John and Emily Calvarese, in Follansbee, West Virginia. She lived through the Great Depression during her elementary school years, and World War II during high school.
Because of the number of men in uniform when Evelyn graduated from high school, college admissions were low and officials scrambled for students. Evelyn was grateful to one such admissions officer who pleaded with her father until he finally consented to her accepting a scholarship to attend Bethany College in West Virginia. Having grown up in a home where Italian and English were equally spoken, Evelyn pursued the study of English, German, Spanish, and French. She was Bethany's first combined modern language major. She went on to teach all four subjects to high school students in Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida.
Evelyn married Richard McKenna in September of 1947. While they began their marriage in Ohio, in 1962, Richard took a job with NCIS which brought twenty-five years of living at naval bases on four continents and in four of our United States. Evelyn was able to use her languages on several of those assignments. While they retired in Orlando, they made their final move to Columbus, Georgia to be near their daughter.
Evelyn and Richard resided together at Spring Harbor of Green Island since 2006. Richard preceded her in death in 2015. The family would like to thank the staff of Spring Harbor for the loving care they showed to both Evelyn and Richard during their last years there.
Surviving Evelyn, are her son, Rick McKenna (Beverly), daughter, Robin Kennedy (Eric), 6 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren, as well as three of her sisters.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. [michaeljfox.org]
Celebration of Life Service with Visitation
MAR 8. 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (EST)
Christ Community ChurchColumbus, GA
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