Constance McKenna |
| Posted 2009-09-29 by Sharon |
| The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ July 28, 2004, p. A11 Constance McKenna, an avid golfer, tireless supporter of Wickenburg's cultural institutions, and a 20-year fount of cheer in Wickenburg, died of respiratory disease Monday, July 19 in her home at the Grandview Care Center in Sun City West. She was 88. Ms. McKenna made her career in advertising in New York City, where she was a trailblazer for professional women in the field. At the time she retired from Compton Advertising in 1976, she was the senior-ranking woman vice president, also holding the titles of administrative manager of the Creative Department and creative coordinator for the agency's 25 partner offices in 20 countries around the world. She was a master at writing the 30-second slice of life commercial, and was the creative force behind such advertising characters as Josephine the Plumber, the front woman for Comet Cleanser during the 1960s and '70s. She also directed the campaigns for Gleem toothpaste and Duncan Hines Cakemix, among other products. Born in Garden City, N.Y., on Dec. 19, 1916, she was the daughter of the late Arthur J. and Eileen MacGuire McKenna, both from families of recently emigrated Irish. Her grandfather Dr. Constantine MacGuire served as chief medical officer with the Irish Brigade and was honored for his service in the Franco-Prussian War, before moving on to New York City where he became Chief of Surgery at a New York hospital. Ms. McKenna graduated from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Pennsylvania and attended Barnard College in New York City. She joined the American Red Cross Overseas Division in 1943. "I sailed on the Queen Mary," she later remembered, "one of 46 women and 10,000 troops. After a circuitous, unescorted trip across the Atlantic, the Queen dropped anchor on the Firth of Forth, Scotland, where the women and troops debarked in small boats by the light of the moon." She spent the next two-and-a-half years in England, first serving as manager and of a group of English performers that entertained the troops at American airbases, hospitals and camps; then running "Rest and Convalescent Homes" for flight-fatigued 8th Air Force men. That began her lifelong commitment of time, energy and fundraising talents to the Red Cross and other charities. Upon her retirement, she pulled up roots in the East Coast and made a new life in Wickenburg. Here, she was an unstoppably cheerful presence on the greens of Rancho de los Caballeros Golf Course and in the cultural life of the community. She was an active supporter of the Wickenburg Library, the Wickenburg Chamber Orchestra, the Hassayampa Nature Preserve and her church, St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. Her first love was the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, where she served on the board of trustees and was past president of the museum auxiliary, Las Senoras de Socorro. "She was a sparkplug," said Museum Director Royce Kardinal. "She packed more energy in that little body than you could believe possible!" She received the museum's Harry Needham Award for her volunteerism. She also served on the boards of the Wickenburg Public Library and the Wickenburg Community Hospital. She also was active in the community life of Grandview Terrace in Sun City West, where she resided for the past five years. She was predeceased by her two brothers, Arthur J. McKenna of Ridgefield, Conn., and Robert L. McKenna, of Denver, Colo., and is survived by her sisters-in-law, Marjorie McKenna and Joan McKenna, and by five nieces, six great-nieces and one great-nephew. Her family plans to hold a memorial celebration of her life at Los Caballeros in early October. She asked that contributions be made in her memory to the Desert Caballeros Western Museum. |
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