McKenna, Vincent Peter 1946 - 2021
MCKENNA, ELLIS, MITCHELL, MCCREA, HETH, WARD, GOSSMAN, BUERGER, GIESBRECHT, SKRETT, SELBERG, GERONOMIE
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 7/2/2021 at 15:35:37
Vincent Peter McKenna, 74, passed away on June 17, 2021 in Austin, Texas after a brief battle with lung cancer.
Vince was born on Dec.6, 1946, on his home farm in Winneshiek County to William and Ann McKenna. He attended Bluffton #6 Country School through eighth grade, and then Decorah High School. He married the love of his life, Julieanne Ellis, on Nov. 25, 1967 in Canton, Minn. They created a happy and loving family, with four biological children, and several “adopted” sons and daughters who were loved and considered part of the family.
After they were married, Vince spent a few years owning a Standard Oil station in Chatfield, Minn. He and Julie then moved to Strawberry Point where Vince worked in sales as a territory manager for Cargill Seed. In 1973 he returned to family farming after his father passed away. Vince moved his family to Paris, Texas in 1981 and proceeded to have a farm management business. In 1983, he went to work for Kimberly-Clark in Paris, in the production of Huggies diapers. He later helped develop the machine that made Pull-Ups Training Pants and finished out his career as a Process Specialist for Kimberly-Clark, retiring in 2009.After retirement, Vince and Julie moved to Austin to be near their three sons and two of their grandchildren. Vince enjoyed woodworking and began doing handyman work in their new neighborhood. He continued doing so until he passed. He had many devoted clients, many of whom became friends, and all treasured his knowledge and caring personality.
Vince’s greatest joy in life was being a father and grandfather, and that showed in every day of his life. He was admired, respected, and deeply loved by all who knew him. He had a cheerful disposition and was always willing to help anyone at any time. Vince always said that he was the luckiest man he knew, and that he had lived a great life, right up to the end.
He is survived by his wife, Julie; his daughter, Trish Mitchell of Austin; three sons, Vincent Jr. (Kieu) of Cedar Park, Texas, Will of Austin, Texas, and Ryan (Megan) of Austin; four grandchildren, Jonathan and Joshua Mitchell, and Rowan and Quinn McKenna; five brothers, Donald (Jo) of Cedar Falls, Terry (Diane) of Mission, Texas, Tom of Mission, David of Mission, and William Jr. of Williamsburg, Iowa; and nine sisters, Margaret McCrea of Waterloo, Mabel (Del) Heth of Cedar Falls, Donna (Kevin) Ward of San Antonio, Texas, Mercedes (Roman) Gossman of Rose Creek, Minn., Karen (LeAllen) Buerger of Monona, Kathy (Rich) Giesbrecht of Cedar Falls, Ann Marie (Lucian) Skretta of Jefferson, Wis., Laurie Selberg of Cedar Rapids, and Mary Ellen (Louie) Geronomie of LeSueur, Minn. Other survivors include two sisters-in-law, Mary Lou McKenna of Prosper, Minn., and Bethany McKenna of Ridgeway. He was preceded in death by his father, William; his mother, Ann; four brothers, Leo, Gerald, Patrick and Gary; and grandson, Aedan.
In lieu of flowers, if anyone would like to honor Vince’s memory, the family has created a fundraiser that will allow them to make a memorial donation to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas to dedicate a large oak tree in Vince’s honor. Any additional funds will go to the Central Texas Food Bank and towards lung cancer research. The web address of the fundraiser is https://gofund.me/7a7509b6.Vince was cremated and part of his remains will be interred at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church cemetery in Bluffton, subsequent to a celebration of his life there on Sept. 25, 2021. The remainder of his remains will be spread in Drogheda, Ireland, his ancestral home.
Source: Decorah Newspapers June 30, 2021
St. Bridget Cemetery
Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen