Paul McKenna, 72; tug of sea brought him to exotic locales
Paul McKenna, a former tugboat captain from Walpole, died of complications of a stroke Sept. 29 at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 72.
Mr. McKenna was known for his love of the sea. Friends and family called him an “adventurer’’ and said he was happiest when he was at sea. In the 1970s and 1980s, he sailed to Senegal, Gambia, Tahiti, China, Japan, Tobago, the Panama Canal, and the Galapagos and Marquesas islands.
“He just liked being on the sea, being on the boat, right from 14,’’ said Joan Kimball of Fort Lauderdale, Mr. McKenna’s sister.
“He would get on any boat that was going anywhere. Mom would get a call and would have to send him money to get home. He would just go as far as he could go.’’
Mr. McKenna went to high school in Jamaica Plain and dropped out at 14, when he started his travels. When he was not going to sea, he was an arborist.
Mr. McKenna earned his captain’s license while living in Fort Lauderdale. His son, Steven, of Walpole, said he recently found GED books and notebooks filled with math problems in his father’s house. “I think he was trying to go for his GED at 72,’’ he said. “He was always striving to learn.’’
In addition to his sister and son, Mr. McKenna leaves his daughter, Allison Isenstadt of Norton; another sister, Maureen Fahey of Walpole; his daughter-in-law Jean of Kingston; and four grandchildren. His son Joshua died in a motorcycle accident in 2007.
A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. today at St. Mary’s Church in Norton. Burial will be private.