Edward John McKenna Jr

MCKENNA HARMON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/21/2010 at 20:24:37

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Edward John McKenna, Jr
By Jane M Uhl

Edward John McKenna was born on July 27, 1918; Evelyn Lorene Harmon was born August 7, 1923. They were married on May 2, 1942, by Father Bernard Greteman, in Onawa, Iowa.

Edward began farming in 1941, on the Mary O’Farrell farm, southwest of Salix. They moved on to the farm when their first born was a year old. There were a lot of new farming techniques coming to light in the early 40’s. Even though tractors were making their way into the system, the horses were still needed for picking corn. The first soybeans that were raised in the area were cut with a grain binder, shocked, and threshed like small grain.

My how things have changed.

Edward used to sell milk, and at one point in his life, he was working at the Swift Packing Plant, in the winter months. He milked six cows and was at work by 6 a.m. He finally decided to work full time at the plant. He retired from there in 1982, having worked at Swift’s for almost thirty years.

Evelyn decided living on a farm was the only place to raise ten children. She remembers her husband hauling water from town for her to do the washing, and until the twins were two years old, they didn’t have a bathroom in the house.

Speaking of remembering, their first new car was bought after picking up corn to pay for it. Lot of good memories: the pet fox; the time one of the boys came in with the ‘wild turkeys’ he had shot, and they turned out to be the neighbors pet guineas; or riding a pony that had a mind of her own; or finding a three year old climbing the grain elevator; the twin who broke his arm because the wanted to get off the crib first; playing kick the can with the neighbor kids; the motorcycle spills; and the permanent ball diamond in the front yard.

The four boys and one daughter were in the military service. The family traveled (via phone calls and letters) to Taiwan, Alaska, Korea, Germany, and many states. It was because of one of the calls that the McKenna Family Cookbook was written. Ed, Evelyn and the younger girls moved to Salix in 1976, into the Mary O’Farrell home. Evelyn has been actively involved in a number of projects. She was one of the first Judicial Magistrates in the county, is now on the Rural Advisory Council of W.C.C.A., and also on the Advisory Board of the Well Elderly Screening Program. She also had a hand in helping to get a bank in their town. Her prized project is the O’Farrell Villa (an elderly housing) which she helped to obtain.

Their children are: Walter Edward, born February 25, 1943, of Emporia, Kansas; Mary Margaret Grause, born October 20, 1944, of Sutherland, Iowa; Kathleen Marie Johnson, born August 31, 1946, of Houston, Texas; Jean Anne Copple, born June 17, 1948, of Knoxville, Iowa; James Joseph, born November 27, 1949, of Salix, Iowa; Michael Wayne and Patrick Wayne, born June 5, 1952, of Salix; Joan Christine Hopkins, born February 17, 1956, of Sloan, Iowa; Jane Maureen Uhl, born August 29, 1957, of Salix, Iowa, and Judith Lynn Johnson, born March 21, 1959, of South Sioux City, Nebraska.