A Home Before a Home: The McKenna Family and a Legacy of Connection

For most students, the connection to Kent Denver begins on the first day of sixth grade. For Roo McKenna Duncan ’81, it began much earlier—and much more literally—inside the walls of Blackmer Hall.

In the summer of 1972, Roo’s family found themselves in a transitional moment. Their new house on Blackmer Road was still under construction, but their previous home had already sold. For a few weeks, Roo and her parents became temporary residents of the Blackmer Hall dormitory.

"My eight-year-old self remembers thinking how cool it was to be in a high school dormitory," Roo recalls. "It felt a bit like a hotel, but with the best basement equipped with a record player and album collection. A kid’s dream." Coming from the city, the Highline Canal and the sprawling fields surrounding the school became her new playground—a vast, adventurous shift for a young girl who would eventually call those same hallways home as a student.

The family’s ties to the school run even deeper than that summer stay. Roo’s late mother, Joan McKenna, often described as the "Salt of the Earth," was a dedicated educator who taught second grade at the Kent School in the mid-1950s. Though she eventually left the classroom to raise Roo and her sisters, Abbe '76 and Lisa, the connection to the school was solidified. All three sisters followed in their mother’s footsteps, attending Kent starting in middle school.

Roo looks back on her years at Kent with fondness, citing the small class sizes and the deep connections between students as the hallmarks of her experience. She points to legendary educators like Judy Graese, Ginny Quigley, and her "inspirational" advisor and English teacher, Tom Graesser, as the creative forces who shaped her journey.

Roo’s mother was a woman moved by causes, generous with her time and her spirit. To honor the school that served as her professional home, her daughters' alma mater, and even a temporary residence for her family, she decided to leave a bequest from her estate to Kent Denver.

As we look toward the renovation of Blackmer Hall—the very building that once acted as a sanctuary for the McKenna family—this bequest serves as a powerful reminder of how the school’s past and future are intertwined. Her gift ensures that the "Salt of the Earth" spirit she brought to the classroom in the 1950s will continue to support the teachers, students and families of the next generation.

The Power of a Bequest: Planned gifts, such as the generous bequest from the estate of Joan McKenna, provide a foundation for Kent Denver’s long-term excellence. These gifts allow the school to maintain its historic campus, support our world-class faculty, and ensure that the "human connection" Roo McKenna Duncan ’81 treasures remains at the heart of our mission.