Jean McKenna

Our Mother believed she would leave us for a better place, shepherded by God, where she would be reunited with those she had loved in life. It is a comfort to know that after ninety-eight years, she has reached this destination.

Jean was born during the Depression, second daughter to Norman and Mae Blakemore. She was teenager during WWII, an anxious sister with a brother who was a prisoner-of-war. She was a French-speaking English girl running on the escaliers of Québec City, a singer on local radio, and then a volunteer with the Red Cross in Toronto, where she met her future husband – “my dear Ed” – when he returned from Holland. They married in 1946.

As a wife and mother, Jean supported Ed during his university studies, and then in his career as a public servant in Ottawa. After twenty years, during which she raised her family, sang in the church choir and in the chorus at the Orpheus Operatic Society, and volunteered - most notably, when she organized Ottawa’s “Red Shield Appeal” for the Salvation Army - she went back to school, capping years of informal study with a diploma in early childhood education. A career as an educator and public servant followed.

Her retirement focussed on family, hosting grandchildren for long holiday visits, and the promotion of the Clan MacLeod Society. She and Ed travelled the world to attend clan gatherings.

After Ed’s death in 2006 came a wistful but not unhappy widowhood, with Nikki, her Shih Tzu at her side, until ill health forced her from the family home. She spent her final years in an assisted living community, always with a grateful smile for her caregivers.

Jean is survived by sons Ed, Bruce and Graeme, daughter Katherine, daughters-in-law Cindy Cowan and Lillian Wright, son-in-law Paul Debenham, grandchildren Sean, Lindsey, Meghan, Morag, Evan and Liam, grand daughter-in-law Heather Murdie and great-grandchildren Jakob, Nathan and Emily, nephew Gordon Wright, nieces Wanda Crawford, Kate Dawnay and Linda Burnell and husband Bryn, grand-niece Sarah and husband Erick Braham, and great grand-nieces Katherine and Charlotte. She was predeceased by her sister Katherine and brother Norman, daughter-in-law Deborah and grandson Ian.

The family is grateful for the exceptional care provided by her doctor, Dr. Jana Lynn Malhotra, who was steadfast until the end, by the caregivers provided by Ontario Health AtHome Champlain, by companion Ella Punil Soto, by Marina Wilks and the staff at the Foxview Retirement Community, and by Morag McKenna and her care team.

A family graveside service will take place at Beechwood Cemetery on Thursday, June 5, 2025, at 1 pm.