The Honorable Elwood S. McKenney, 85, of Mattapoisett, died October 28, 2003 at Sippican Healthcare Center in Marion after a brief illness.
He was the husband of the late Kathleen (Lomax) McKenney and son of the late Harvey and Margarite (Williams) McKenney.
Judge McKenney was born in Summit, NJ and was raised in the Roxbury section of Boston. He had lived in Boston for many years before moving to Mattapoisett 20 years ago.
After graduating from high school, Judge McKenney was the recipient of a four year scholarship to Harvard University. He also worked as a "red cap" baggage carrier to underwrite the costs of his undergraduate education. After graduating from Harvard with honors in 1938, he served as a page in the Massachusetts House of Representatives before enlisting in the United States Army in 1942. During his military service, he was a recipient of the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Campaign ribbon, the American Theater Campaign ribbon, the Good Conduct medal and the World War II Victory medal.
In 1945, Judge McKenney was discharged from active duty and later served in the United States Army Reserves until 1961, receiving numerous citations for meritous service.
In 1946, he became the first black person to be appointed to the Massachusetts Fair Employment Commission, the forerunner of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.While serving on the commission, he attended Boston University Law School in the evenings, graduating in 1950. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1951. His service on the Commission was followed by service on a Presidential Committee formed to study racial desegregation in the armed forces and, in 1954, he served as executive director of the World Veterans Fund.
In 1955, Judge McKenney joined the staff of Governor Foster Furcolo and, in 1959, was appointed Chief Secretary to Governor Furcolo.
In 1960, he was appointed a justice of the Roxbury District Court where he assisted in securing the construction of a court house, undertook a minority recruitment plan, established a court clinic and introduced programs to address the prevalence of alcoholism and drug addiction among defendants. He also cooperated in the establishment of a law school defender program, and secured funding for a pretrial diversion program.
Within the Roxbury community, Judge McKenney was associated with Freedom House, the Boy's Club of Boston, the Lawyers Committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Boston Legal Aid Society. He served as president of the Military Intelligence Association of New England and was active in the affairs of the Massachusetts Judges Association and the Black Judges Conference.
Judge McKenney leaves 2 sons, Peter McKenney of New York City and Rudge McKenney of Newton; a daughter, Chanice McKenney-Ball of Boston; a granddaughter, Amy Cope of New York; several nephews, including Christopher Ferguson of Newton, Joseph E. Harris, Jr. of Milton, and Keith Harris of Arizona; a niece, Karon Harris of Boston; and several special friends including Mary Ball, Ronald Kahn, Jack and Nancy Olsen, and "cousin" Carl Cruz.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend Visiting hours in the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd. (Rt. 6)., MattapoisettThursday, October 30th from 4-9 PM.
His Funeral Service and burial will be private.