Our dear friend Gerard “Jerry” McKenna died on Sunday October 25th, 2026. While this brings great sadness to the PeaceWorks community up here in New Jersey, we can only imagine the impact of Jerry’s loss down in Nicaragua.
Jerry’s obituary will be filled with words about a man with enormous love for his family and how his faith drove him to extend his love, kindness and humor to all he met. He worked for many years with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and then used his knowledge to educate hundreds of students as a professor at NJIT. But Jerry’s contributions didn’t stop with retirement.
Upon returning from a delegation to Nicaragua in 2015, Jerry was inspired by the work of Inhijambia, whose “street educators” supported children who were working and living in the dangerous back alleys of Managua’s Eastern Market.
He went on location with the Inhijambia educators and saw first- hand that the foul-smelling, open-sewage passageways filled with of drug abuse and exploitation were no place for any child.
But on the same trip, Jerry also met young people, now in their teens and twenties, who once were those “street kids” in the Eastern Market. They had come so far, but they told Jerry they were struggling to finish their education – to achieve careers in medicine, technology and education — because their families relied on them to work and earn money.
Immediately upon returning home, Jerry rounded up family and friends to ask for their help. If he could raise $1000, he could give one of Inhijambia’s young people some breathing room to attend a year of college. Thankfully, in Nicaragua college is free, but other expenses, like books and supplies can still cost a pretty penny.
In that first year Jerry raised around $10,000. And 12 years later, 40 young people are in college or have graduated because of Jerry McKenna, his friends, family and the wider PeaceWorks community who contributed to Jerry’s dream. We promise to do everything we can to keep Jerry’s dream alive well into the future.
There will be a visitation on Friday October 30th, 2026 from 4-8pm at the Higgins Home for Funerals, 752 Mountain Blvd., Watchung, NJ 07069. The family is requesting in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Inhijambia Scholarship Fund. A Funeral Mass will be held on Sunday October 31st 10:00 a.m. at St. Luke’s Church, 300 Clinton Avenue, North Plainfield, NJ 07060.
In Nicaragua, when someone of great respect has passed, people say their name in unison followed by, “¡presente!” — because the deceased remain forever in our presence. On behalf of everyone in the PeaceWorks community, up here and at down in Nicaragua, we say: Gerry Mckenna, ¡presente!
