Elizabeth McKenna, 92

'Betty' Elizabeth Jeanette Carey Wolfe McKenna

December 5, 1928 – August 12, 2021

Beloved Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Great-Great-Grandmother and Friend passed away at the age of 92.

Betty McKenna of Hayden, Idaho, was born Dec. 5, 1928, to Calvin and Grace (Eastabrooks) Carey. Betty passed away Aug. 12, 2021, surrounded by family.

Betty reminisced about growing up climbing trees, gardening vegetables, raising animals, and swimming with river snakes with her three sisters and her brother throughout Minnesota, Missouri and Illinois. Her father traveled in search of employment while her mother worked herself to the bone to feed and shelter Betty and her siblings. Scars from barely surviving the 1930s and the Great Depression generated a great respect for food, clothing and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1940, her family moved to the Seattle area where her father found work.

Later, Betty and her family settled in St. Maries, Idaho, where Betty was an accelerated high school student. Betty eloped with C. Rodney Wolfe on Feb. 21, 1946. During their 35-year marriage, they had four children, built the original “Big Eddy,” and worshipped at the St. Paul Lutheran Church. They lived and worked in Idaho, Washington and Oregon before settling back in St. Maries in 1968.

After Betty and Rodney divorced in 1981, Betty (53) moved to Coeur d’Alene, where she completed her Medical Transcriptions Associates Degree at North Idaho College. She remained in Coeur d’Alene five years, spending time with family and working for KMC and several doctors in Coeur d’Alene.

In 1987, Betty moved to Seattle, Wash., continuing her work as a medical transcriptionist for Swedish Medical Center. Proving 50-plus was not the end of life’s journey, she lived there as an independent, self-sufficient, sophisticated, single woman.

Things got even more interesting when Betty met and married James “Jim” McKenna Jr. and moved to Camano Island in 1993 (65). Betty managed her transcription business from home while Jim served as an Adjudicator for Island County. Both stayed actively employed into their 70s. Betty loved to entertain family and friends at their lovely home overlooking Puget Sound. Betty and Jim traveled to Hawaii, Panama Canal, Mexico, Sweden and Norway. They also enjoyed wintering in Higgins, Ariz., to escape the wet, chilly west coast.

During the 1990s Betty invested and managed real estate in Washington. Unexpectedly, Jim passed away in 2002 when they were both 73 years old. A short time later, Betty sold her properties, left Camano Island and reestablished herself in Coeur d’Alene to be closer to her children and grandchildren. Betty loved music, reading, painting, pottery, walking, her dog Bella, dining out, traveling, attending the theater, and spending time with family.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, James “Jim” McKenna; daughter, Ramona Christensen; siblings: Florence Achenbach, Patty Pumphrey, Maxine Beal and William “Bill” Carey; parents, Calvin William Carey and Grace Estabrooks Carey Wilson; and step-father, Robert “Bob” Wilson. She is survived by her children: Cheryl (Dick) Materne, Rodney A. (Donella) Wolfe, and Annette (Ralph) Brandvold; 12 grandchildren, 28 great grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren.

The earth is a little less bright without our beloved Grandma Betty; however, the heavens are beaming! An Inuit legend suggests, “Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings to Heaven where our loved ones shine down to let us know that they are happy.”

A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, at Yates Funeral Homes, 744 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83814. Optional viewing is at 1 p.m. An offsite reception will follow.

Favorite charities include Meals on Wheels, Union Gospel Mission, Salvation Army and Hospice of North Idaho. Please visit Betty’s online memorial and sign her guestbook at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com