April 18, 1983 - July 8, 2021
With broken hearts we announce the untimely passing of our beloved son and brother, Conal Mark McKenna, age 38.
As a young child, Conal displayed an unusual depth of compassion for the less fortunate, always reaching out to those experiencing difficult circumstances. He was a gifted child who excelled in all things to which he turned his mind. As so often happens to young people in our society, Conal was exposed to the scourge of chemical street drugs at age 15, which initiated intermittent periods of turbulence in his life. He had several years drug-free, but the siren call of chemical addiction begun in adolescence haunted him unabated.
Most recently, after a rehabilitation program in 2019, and a healing spiritual conversion, Conal began a sure and steady upward climb in a successful and drug-free life. Conal was enrolled in the Okanagan Bible College in an undergraduate program in Religious Studies. A lover of art, music and literature, he played piano and guitar, wrote poetry and short stories, and he read voraciously. In what little free time Conal did have, he could always be counted upon for a quick game of cribbage. He was filled with gratitude for the opportunity to live clean and to once again be a positive contributor to society.
The compassion for others he displayed as a young child was also a hallmark of the man, as Conal volunteered in Cranbrook reaching out to those mired in the street-life and addiction cycle. Conal began his own ministry through an initiative he started called "1-2-1" (one-to-one), geared toward assisting the most unfortunate to obtain official BC Identification and access to government services. His own recovery precarious, Conal's exposure to his nemesis resulted in his eventual capitulation, and he tragically succumbed to the effects of fentanyl overdose.
We take comfort in the knowledge that Conal is now with the Lord, just a lot sooner than he was planning. We are grateful to have had him in our lives.
He was an original.
Conal leaves behind: parents, Brendan McKenna and Robin Raymond; children Tiernan Lucas (15) and Ava (14). brother Devin (Amanda) and their children Emma, Ethan, Logan and Lillian; brother Tiernan Christopher; brother Cameron (Alandra) and their children Kyle, Emmalee and Grayson.
Conal leaves behind his grandparents Vivian and Jim Hazell of Cranbrook and Ken Raymond of Kapuskasing, Ontario.
Conal was predeceased by his paternal grandparents, Dominic and Joan McKenna, Newmarket, Ontario.
Conal also had numerous (more than 100) uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews across BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Michigan.
There was a Visitation/Viewing service for Conal on Friday, July 30, 2021 and a Celebration of Life held at the Cranbrook Alliance Church on Saturday, July 31, 2021. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made in Conal's memory to Ankors in Cranbrook, B.C.
Funeral Arrangements have been entrusted to Mark Memorial Community Funeral Home.