Rita Barclay-Kenna

The woman we considered the greatest wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, has moved on to be with her Lord and Savior following a short illness.  Rita Barclay Kenna, nearly 91-years young, passed away on Monday (December 28th) at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.  She touched many, many lives with her kindness and compassion during her more than 50-years as a Registered Nurse in both Pennsylvania and Florida. Rita was born in Easton to proud parents, Thomas Raymond Schaeffer and Florence McWilliams Schaeffer, and shared her young life with three wonderful siblings, Roy, Paul and Mary.  She later married Robert Barclay, also of Easton, and together they raised five children.  Following the passing of Robert in 1982, she married another amazing man, Frank Kenna in 1989.  Her accomplishments as a health care professional, mom and terrific human being, are too numerous to mention here...but she was a remarkable woman who was "lovably stubborn" and didn't know the meaning of the words, "that cannot be done". She is preceded in death by her mother, father, two brothers and two husbands.  She is survived by her sister, Mary Wirdzek (San Francisco, CA); her oldest daughter, Mary Ellen Mercurio and her husband Lou (Doylestown, PA); Kathleen Cron (Bethlehem, PA); Patricia Moore (Allentown, PA); Robert Barclay and his wife, Jennifer (Easton, PA), and Barbara Bartek and her husband, Barry (Easton, PA).  She'll also be watching over from heaven, her eighteen amazing grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, and countless nieces and nephews. Private funeral services are planned for Saint Peter's Church in Coplay, and arrangements are being handled by the Bensing-Thomas Funeral Home in Stroudsburg.  Instead of flowers, feel free to make a donation in Rita's name to Cure America, the American Cancer Society or the American Lung Association.