Ernest L. McKenna Jr., 81, surgeon and fund-raiser

Ernest L. McKenna Jr., 81, of Berwyn, a pioneering surgeon who became an enthusiastic fund-raiser for Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital after suffering a crippling disease, died of heart failure Wednesday at home.

Dr. McKenna, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, maintained a practice in Wayne and served on the staff of Bryn Mawr Hospital for 40 years, until the late 1990s. In the 1970s, he was among the first surgeons in the Philadelphia region to use laser technology to remove cancerous tumors in the throat and mouth.

He was chief of Bryn Mawr Hospital's Department of Otolaryngology Service from 1969 until 1986 and president of its medical staff from 1993 until 1995. In 1996, as chairman of the Medical Committee of Main Line Health, he oversaw the integration of the medical staffs of Bryn Mawr, Lankenau and Paoli Hospitals into the newly formed Main Line Health staff.

Dr. McKenna was past president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Otolaryngology.

In 1997, the focus of Dr. McKenna's medical interests shifted. While vacationing in France that summer, he was stricken with Guillain-Barré syndrome, an inflammatory disorder of the peripheral nerves. Dr. McKenna was paralyzed from the neck down. He spent seven months at Bryn Mawr Rehab in Malvern and eventually learned to walk again with a cane. While recovering, he formed close friendships with the staff and administration, who "became his second family," said his son Christopher.

From 1999 to 2005, Dr. McKenna chaired the gift-giving committee of Bryn Mawr Rehab's Foundation Board, the hospital's fund-raising organization. For the last three years, he served as chairman of Bryn Mawr Rehab's Operating Board.

He had been active with Community Volunteers in Medicine, an organization that serves the medical and dental needs of uninsured residents of Chester County.

He was a member of Overbrook Golf Club for 45 years and served on its board in the 1970s and 1980s. He enjoyed spending time as a playground monitor at St. Norbert's School in Paoli.

Dr. McKenna grew up in Narberth and, at age 16, graduated from St. Thomas More High School in West Philadelphia. During World War II, he served in the Navy.

After his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree from St. Joseph's University. After working briefly as a salesman, he enrolled in Thomas Jefferson Medical School, graduating in 1955. He interned at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, and completed a residency in surgery at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Philadelphia and a residency in otolaryngology at Temple University Hospital.

He was an instructor at Temple and Jefferson Medical Schools for many years.

Dr. McKenna's wife of 27 years, Kathleen McCarthy McKenna, died in 1982. Since 1990, he had been married to Hazel Hurley McKenna.

In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by sons Ernest III, Kevin and Michael; daughters Virginia Bullock, Kate Werner and Eileen Lombardo; stepchildren Michael, Darren and Gregory Hurley; a brother, and 22 grandchildren.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. John Neumann Church, 380 Highland Lane, Bryn Mawr. Friends may call from 9 a.m. at the church and from 6 to 9 p.m. tomorrow at Donohue Funeral Home, 3300 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon.

Donations may be made to Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital, 414 Paoli Pike, Malvern, Pa. 19355.