Gwendolyn Lois McKenna

Gwendolyn Lois McKenna was born December 3rd 1942, in Inola, Oklahoma. It was there that she grew up and was graduated as a proud member of the Lady Longhorn Basketball Team.  Gwendolyn was preceded in death by her parents, Loy Smith and Clara Snodgrass; her 2 brothers, Jack and Harold Smith; her beloved husband of 54 years, Kenneth F McKenna, and her great grandson, Levi McKenna. Gwen is survived by her children Doctor R. Wade McKenna, D.O., Shawnah and Kent Shingleton, and David McKenna; Her grandchildren Joshua Thomas, Jordan McKenna, Jerimy McKenna, Jared Shingleton, Maci Shingleton, Molly Shingleton, Sarah Frank, Meghan McKenna, Milan McKenna and Tess McKenna, as well as her 9 great-grandchildren and numerous extended family members who will all miss her love, support and kind, gentle spirit.

Gwen spoke often of her childhood in Rogers County, and to hear her describe it, you would believe it to be a paradise. Any conversation with Gwen would soon be turned towards Inola at some point.

A few years after her high school graduation, she moved with family to California searching for a better life. That she found. It was while in California that she met a young, charismatic, redhead from Pennsylvania, named Ken McKenna, who swept her off her feet. Literally.  It was not long before they moved back to Oklahoma to start a family in South Oklahoma City, where they lived out the rest of their lives.

To say that Gwen wore many hats is an understatement. Gwen was a loving mother, first and foremost, but in her spare time she was a housewife, mother to the neighborhood, Bluebird leader, Girl Scout leader, Boy Scout den mother, President of the PTA, Sunday school teacher, VBS director, church financial secretary, preacher's wife, politician's wife, lady of high society, Inola, Oklahoma's unofficial historian, and a world traveler. But most importantly, she was a friend to everyone she ever met.  After your first conversation with her, you would feel like you had known her forever.

Gwen was a Godly woman. She made sure that her family was in church regularly and that her children were raised in accordance with God's word.  Gwen was a prayer Warrior. She prayed for her family and loved ones non-stop. Many of our lives are better because of her prayers and we will never even know it. Her love and faith in God was evident not only in her words and her prayers, but you could feel it from her heart. And she had the heart of an angel.

One of Gwen's good friends commented that, "The world is less kind, less beautiful and less loving because of her passing", and no one could have ever said it any better.
We will miss you until our broken hearts are with you again.

Visitation will begin at 4:00 PM on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at the John M. Ireland & Son Funeral Home & Chapel, located at 120 South Broadway Avenue in Moore, Oklahoma.

Services will begin at 2:00 PM on Thursday, September 16, 2021 at the First Moore Baptist Church, located at 301 NE 27th Street in Moore, and are under the direction of John M. Ireland & Son Funeral Home & Chapel.

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