Paul McKenna (died April 13, 2016, aged 82)
Obituary provided by Gemma Nohilly
Two life-long friends who were born in neighboring counties, graduated with medical degrees from Queen’s and immigrated to the USA died within 3 weeks of each other in the spring of 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Paul McKenna MD and Frank Macaulay MD were proud Irish men and proud Queen’s men. They were both active and very supportive in the Queen’s USA West Coast Alumni group, attended all functions and even offered their homes to host events.They were kind, compassionate and unassuming men and will be sadly missed by friends, family and the medical world of Southern California.
Paul McKenna was born in Coleraine on June 26th 1934, educated at St Malachy’s College, Belfast and studied medicine at Queen’s.
After graduating in 1958 with an MB, Paul spent 2 years in Nigeria as a missionary doctor. He spoke fondly of his time in Africa and loved the African people. His African experience inspired him to study Tropical Medicine at the University of Liverpool.
Paul then moved to the United States, where he did a residency in dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston which was connected to Harvard University.
Looking for a warmer climate, he moved to Los Angeles and did a fellowship in dermatology at the University of Southern California. He started his private dermatology practice in LA and operated it for 36 years.
Paul met his (Irish born) wife, Monica in Long Beach, CA where they lived with their three sons in Pacific Palisades. One of his sons, Paul Jr. returned to Ireland to attend UCC and is now an Orthopedic Consultant in Waterford.
Paul was well known in his field of medicine and while he practiced one block from Beverly Hills, his patients came from varying backgrounds. Always compassionate, he would never turn anyone away for lack of payment and often volunteered his services to those in need. One example of this was his patient who worked at the local breakfast bar who paid him with a morning coffee and donut. Paul accepted this form of payment graciously, always being sensitive to the need for personal dignity!
Paul McKenna passed away on April 13th 2016.
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