Bernice McKenna: Benefactress of Claremont McKenna College

Bernice Waller McKenna, a major benefactress of Claremont McKenna College and widow of the college’s founder, has died in Laguna Beach. She was 91.

“Basically, it’s the end of an era,” her son, Malcolm McKenna said Tuesday.

That era began in 1928 with Bernice Waller’s marriage to Donald Carnegie McKenna, whom she had met while both were elementary school students in Claremont. The McKennas became fascinated with Pomona College, the first of what was to become the six institutions that make up the Claremont Colleges.

In the mid-1940s the McKennas helped found Claremont Men’s College, the business and public affairs institution that was later to bear their name. The college opened in 1946 with Donald McKenna as a member of its founding board of trustees. In 1981--just five years after women were admitted to the school--the board renamed the institution Claremont McKenna College.

Bernice McKenna contributed generously toward the creation of the college’s Athenaeum Speaker Series--a regular exchange between teachers and students-- as well as numerous international student scholarships.

In addition to her passion for fine needlepoint, she was a knowledgeable judge and collector of fine ceramics, a seasoned traveler with an intimate knowledge of world geography, an avid gardener and a lover of the Rocky Mountains.

“She will be missed greatly,” college spokesman Jeffrey Baum said. “She was a quiet and conscientious supporter who was there to serve as a reminder of the roots of the founding of the college. She was a frequent visitor and attended board meetings and various campus events with her husband.”

Donald McKenna died in 1997, more than 30 years after the couple had moved to Laguna Beach.

Family members said that Bernice McKenna died peacefully in her sleep early Saturday morning.

Memorial services will be private. Contributions may be made in her honor to The Nature Conservancy of Colorado, 1244 Pine St., Boulder, Colo. 90302.

In addition to her son--a widely respected vertebrate paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York--Bernice McKenna is survived by her sister, Margaret Heald of Laguna Beach; sister-in-law Priscilla McKenna of Englewood, N.J.; four grandchildren; and seven great grandchildren.