Gena McKee

 The day we anticipated but couldn’t imagine has come. Our amazing matriarch, Virginia Irene McKee (née Hunter) died on October 12, 2024, from complications sustained following a fall and subsequent broken hip. Known to everyone as Gena, she reached her goal of living to 100, plus six months. Everyone wanted to know her secret. Here it is:

 Gena was always physically active walking, hiking, playing tennis, then golf. As a member of Albuquerque Country Club for 46 years, she was playing and winning in golf tournaments into her nineties and cleaned out her golf locker at 97. 

 She was a lifelong learner. After her 4 children were grown, Gena became a student in the honors program at the University of Albuquerque. Civic minded, she was soon tapped to be a board member and in1982 personally helped raise over a million dollars for the U of A. She then served as chair of the board of trustees and received an honorary doctorate. In 1990 she was a successful fundraiser on the Governor’s Mansion Committee. After years of volunteer work, she put her great sense of style to work in the clothing business with friends and later her daughter, Marsha. She was a born salesperson. At 79 she started work as a concierge at the Heart Hospital. She retired at 87 because it was interfering with her golf!

 Gena had a great sense of humor and wit. One of her greatest strengths was acceptance. Acceptance of others. Acceptance of change. Acceptance of circumstances. She had an equanimity that allowed her to remain forever optimistic and happy. She was a great friend to all who knew her, and she had many, many friends.

 Family was her foundation. She was born April 5, 1924, the youngest of 9 children to John Alexander Hunter and Lue Lambert Hunter. Soon after her birth in Savanna, Oklahoma, her father was killed in a coal mining accident. Her mother moved the family to Pueblo, Colorado for better opportunities. During WWII, at the age of 19, Gena was determined to enlist in the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs). In spite of her family’s protests she got her pilot’s license only to have the program end before she could join. Still, she felt it was one of her greatest accomplishments. In 1947 she married the love of her life, Lloyd McKee. They moved to Albuquerque in 1956 to build a business in the automobile industry. They spent 71 loving years together until his death in 2018 at the age of 94. She and Lloyd attended Central United Methodist Church for more than 60 years. She was faithful to the end.

 Gena is survived by her four children, Susan McKee, Marsha McKee Thom (Ric Thom), Shannon McKee, Father Scott McKee and honorary daughter, Mary Lynn Roper; three grandsons: Rhys Thom (Cristi Fernandez), Travis Thom (Toni House Thom), Tim McKee and four great-granddaughters: Anaïs and Carmen Fernandez Thom and Addison and Julia Thom all of whom brought her much joy and pride. She leaves behind many extended family members throughout the country who loved her. “She is my role model” is a sentiment we heard often. She was ours too.

 On Friday, November 8, 2024, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Parish,1502 Sara Rd., Rio Rancho, NM 87124 a rosary will be recited at 10:00a.m. and The Rev. Scott McKee will celebrate a Funeral Mass at 10:30.

  Friends and family can pay their respects at A Celebration of Life Saturday, November 9th at 11:00 am at Strong-Thorne Chapel, 1100 Coal Ave. SE, Albuquerque, NM, 87106. Reception details will be announced at the celebration of life. Interment to take place privately.