[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 25, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        A TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF THE LIFE OF JOAN A. McKENNA, RSCJ

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                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 25, 2013

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Sister Joan McKenna, a 
member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart and a highly distinguished 
educator, who died in Atherton, California on September 12, 2013. She 
was born in San Francisco on January 19, 1932, to Henry and Agnes 
McGuire McKenna.
   Sister McKenna leaves her only sister, Kathleen P. McKenna, and her 
beloved community of Sacred Heart Sisters. She also leaves generations 
of children who were blessed by her teaching and her love, as well as 
the hundreds of people whose lives she graced with her caring and 
genuine interest.
   Sister McKenna was a remarkable woman who represented the gold 
standard in education in ways almost too numerous to recount. She was 
raised in San Francisco and educated in a parish school. As a high 
school student she was given a full scholarship to Sacred Heart Schools 
Broadway where she continued to excel and where she developed her deep 
respect for the Religious of the Sacred Heart and their dedication to 
educating the ``whole child.''
   Sister McKenna received her B.A. and her M.A. in History from the 
San Francisco College for Women. She later received her M.A. in 
Theology and her J.D. from the University of San Francisco. From each 
of these institutions she received training that developed her inborn 
talents, and to each of them she returned what she received tenfold, or 
more.
   After joining the Religious of the Sacred Heart, Sister McKenna 
taught history and religious studies at Sacred Heart Schools in El 
Cajon, San Francisco and Atherton. In addition to her teaching, she was 
Dean of Students and Assistant to the President at the San Francisco 
College for Women. After receiving her law degree she spent three years 
working as a legal assistant for the San Francisco City Attorney's 
Office in the Juvenile Court. She served as Principal at Sacred Heart 
Broadway and Director of Schools at Sacred Heart Atherton. Over the 
years she served on the Boards at each of these institutions, as well 
as the Oakwood retirement home for the Religious, and for Catholic 
Charities of San Francisco. Before her retirement she was a lecturer in 
theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco, a 
volunteer mentor for teachers, and a tutor for students at St. Martin 
de Porres School in Oakland. She retired in 2011 Sister Joan McKenna's 
life was one of learning and helping others to learn in a tradition of 
values-based education that she treasured. She was a loving friend to 
me and my family, educating and mentoring my daughter, Karen Eshoo. As 
one colleague of hers recalled, ``she quoted Micah and told her 
students to `act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with their 
God.' These simple words were made all the more powerful by the fact 
that they were delivered by one who lived them herself and one who 
consistently made her faith so accessible to others.''
   Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in extending our deepest 
condolences to the RSCJ community and all those who were privileged to 
know Sister Joan McKenna. She was a most extraordinary woman who 
blessed our country as a superb educator, inspired countless students 
to lead lives of value, and strengthened our nation immeasurably.

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