William G. McKenna | Financial analyst, 79

William Gerald McKenna, 79, of Chestnut Hill, a certified financial analyst, died of renal failure at home Friday.

Mr. McKenna graduated from Southeast Catholic High School, now SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School, in Philadelphia. He then worked in the Gulf Oil refinery office here. He met his future wife, Joan Watson, while collecting donations from his coworkers for Catholic missions.

During the Korean War, he served in the Navy and was stationed in Norfolk, Va. After his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree from Temple University. Later, while working, he studied finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

For more than 45 years, Mr. McKenna was a securities analyst and portfolio manager with financial institutions that included Keystone Insurance, Girard Bank, City Bank, Weeden & Co., PNC Bank, and Provident Capital Management. He was an investment adviser with Walnut Asset Management when he retired in 2004.

Mr. McKenna was past president of the Philadelphia Securities Association and was a member of the Financial Analysts of Philadelphia. He served on the investment committees of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Sisters of St. Joseph in Chestnut Hill for more than 20 years.

He enjoyed gardening, spending winters in Arizona, and playing golf at Whitemarsh Country Club. An avid Phillies fan, he watched the team play Thursday night, his family said.

In addition to his wife of 54 years, Mr. McKenna is survived by daughters Deirdre Baliban, Kathryn "Tina" McHale, Joan, and Mary Jo "Jenifer"; a son, W. Thaddeus; and six grandchildren.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. today at Our Mother of Consolation Roman Catholic Church, 9 E. Chestnut Hill Ave., Philadelphia. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.