We are saddened to announce the passing of Richard Dennis McKenna on the 23rd of May. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio on March 19, 1940 to Dennis Francis McKenna III and Vera Lorraine Everstine. He came to California as a young boy, living in San Francisco. Richard met Florence Jean Brodeau in San Francisco and they were married in Visalia, California on December 4, 1958.

Richard and Jean lived in the San Diego Area and the Bay Area before moving to Humboldt County in 1967. In addition to their three boys and a girl, they took care of more than two hundred foster children.

Richard was a Vietnam Navy veteran, serving from 1957 to1963. He served on the USS Jason AR-8 and then on the USS Walton DE-361 during the early years of the war. He earned the National Defense Medal and the Armed Services Expeditionary Service Medal (Vietnam).

After the Navy, Richard went to work for PG&E as an auxiliary operator and stayed with them until he retired as Supervisor of Operations at Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant.

Richard was a Mason, a member of the AAHMES Redwood Shrine Club, and a Shriner Clown.

He loved spending his summers at Trinity Lake.

Richard is survived by his sister Kathy Martin (Donald) Hamilton; sons Dennis and Richard McKenna; daughter Connie McKenna; daughters-in-law Pamela McKenna, Sherri McKenna, and Madeline McKenna; grandsons Ben (Amy) McKenna and Darrel Neilson, granddaughters Heather (Jayme) Gonzales, Marsha Silvey, Caren McKenna, Colleen Carroll, Courtney Carroll, and Melina McKenna; great-grandsons Shane Jensen Jr, Justice Heflin-Woods, Mason Silvey, and Sebastian Carroll; nieces Pam (Oscar) Sarlandt, Tammy Holt, Angela (Danny) Nichols; nephews Jimmy (Corina) McKenna, Scott (Renee) McKenna, Floyd Brodeau Jr, Scott Collins; and their families.

He was preceded in death by his wife Jean, by his son Norman McKenna, by his brothers Donald (Waltraud) McKenna and Paul (Joanne) McKenna; by his parents Dennis and Vera; and by his grandparents Dennis Francis McKenna II, Ellen Shaffer McKenna, Olive McKenna, John Everstine, and Florence Schisler Everstine Stombaugh.

The Funeral will be at Goble’s Fortuna Mortuary, 560 12th Street, Fortuna on June 10 at 11 a.m. A reception follows at the Eel River Empire Lodge, 922 Main Street, Fortuna. A family-only internment will take place at 12:30 p.m. at Sunrise Cemetery and then the family will join fellow mourners at the Eel River Empire Lodge to celebrate Richard’s life.

In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer a donation to Hospice of Humboldt in gratitude for their care of Richard during his transition. Donations can be made online at hospiceofhumboldt.org or mailed to Hospice of Humboldt, 3327 Timber Fall Court, Eureka, CA 95503. Their phone number is 707-445-8443.

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