Edna Wiley McKeown

1936 - 2020

Edna Wiley McKeown
March 14, 1936 - June 18, 2020
Murrieta, California - On June 18th, two days after her 64th wedding anniversary, Edna Wiley Mckeown passed away. She was 84 years young, but the stroke from nowhere she suffered in 2015, finally took its toll. She died in her sleep at a memory care facility in Murrieta, California.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Roy and Pearle Wiley of Monroe, Washington, in-laws Tom and Jeanne McKeown, and many aunts and uncles. She is survived by her husband Jim, children and spouses, Debra and Toby Daniels, Jim and Pam McKeown, Jeff and Donna McKeown, and Steve and Kris McKeown. Her grandchildren are Steven, Kailyn, Christopher, Nicole, Andrew, Loren, and Kaye. Also her siblings, Delta Colvin and Edward Wiley.
Where to start when one thinks of this amazing lady. Edna met Jim at WSU in 1954. Jim knew at once that he had met someone very special and they married in 1956, and settled in Richland, Washington. After the first year, she was a stay-at-home Mom, having to care for four children in the first five years, a lifelong love that never ended. Jim was in the retail business and worked long hours while Edna took care of everything on the home front. There were some lean years, but Edna filled the home with love and laughter, and always with that incredible smile.
Then came many moves as they climbed the corporate ladder, from Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, California, and then Connecticut, where Jim commuted into New York City every day. Edna fell in love with the city and what it offered; shopping, theatre, history, and spent as much time as she could taking the train in and out.
In 1981, they moved back to California; Fresno this time, where she played tennis at a high level and made many lifelong friends. While in Fresno, and with the kids on their own, her parents took her to Europe in 1982. This started a life-changing love of travel. One to three trips a year, somewhere in the world, many by herself, covering all of Europe, Nepal, India, Russia, China, Yugoslavia, Viet Nam, Israel, Tunisia, Kenya, and Egypt. There were special buying trips to Hong Kong and Korea with Fresno friends. After Jim retired in 1995, they traveled together, visiting Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. They also revisited many of her earlier trips to Europe and Asia. She visited every continent except Antarctica
She met many celebrities in the 80's and 90's, including Charlton Heston, Kenny Rogers, Sophia Loren, Shirley Jones, and many sports figures of the time, just to name a few. In 2002 they sold their large home in Folsom and moved to a smaller "home on the lake" in Sacramento. Through all of the 16 different homes, packing and repacking, changing schools, finding new doctors, making new friends, Edna was unflappable. She made the very best of every move, as she did with her life.
She led a full, active life until memory and balance issues forced her to slow down, and the stroke which brought an end to world travel but did not diminish her positive outlook or spirit. She was a remarkable lady, wife, mother, grandmother and friend. She was aware of what was happening to her but never complained, just always had that smile on her face, gracious to the end. She is greatly loved and missed by all who knew her. A memorial is planned for some time next year.