Family heartbreak on the day they should have celebrated his birthdayGRAHAM McKenna’s family should be putting up balloons today and watching him blow out the candles on the cake as he celebrated his 46th birthday.
Instead they are still struggling to come to terms with the senseless murder of the popular father-of-two.
A distinguished former soldier with tours of duty in some of the world’s most war-torn landscapes, Mr McKenna was knifed to death in front of his 14-year-old son Michael close to their Wirral home.
On Saturday January 10 the pair were on their way to Goodison Park to watch Everton play on one of their regular dad-and-lad days.
The two season ticket holders in the lower Gwladys Street were ambushed by a knifeman as they went to catch the Soccer Bus in Upton Road, Claughton.
Mr McKenna was stabbed repeatedly and his son knifed nine times.
They both collapsed on nearby Speedwell Road.
Mr McKenna died at Arrowe Park hospital.
Michael was today recovering with his family at home.
Today Mr McKenna’s wife Gill, 40, said the loss of her husband of 20 years had left a huge hole in her life.
A tearful Mrs McKenna said: “We all miss him so much. He was just lovely in every way. Graham was too young to die.
“He had so much to live for. We had so many plans that have been wiped out.
“Graham joined the army and served for 23 years. When he left in 2005 it was just family time for him. He promised he would never leave me again.
“He put his heart and soul into everything he did. Graham was loved by everyone who met him.
“We have seen that from the tributes so many people have left, and I can only thank them for those lovely words because they have given us strength.
“He finished in the army at the Birkenhead recruitment office, and even now, years on, people would stop us when we were out in town and say ‘Thanks Mac, you probably don’t remember me but you helped me make the right choice’.
“He just did what he could for other people. He was such a lovely friend and husband.
“No-one will ever replace him. Because of his tours in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Kenya and so many others I thought he was indestructible.
“Now I can’t believe he has gone.
“Today we should be celebrating Graham’s 46th birthday with our family and friends.
“But his body still hasn’t been released to us so we can’t even bury him. We will just have to spend it together as a family.”
Yesterday, for the first time, Mrs McKenna visited the scene where her husband was killed.
She looked at the piles of tributes, flowers and Everton memorabilia left by well-wishers.
Mr McKenna’s mother Pat Carpenter said that after growing up with three brothers and two sisters, Graham forged his own way in the world and was determined to do something with his natural intrigue and love of exploring.
Stopped by her from signing up at 16, he joined the army when he became an adult and met Gill in 1985 when he was home on leave from his posting in Hong Kong.
From then on the pair were inseparable.
The family they raised travelled the globe with his job until daughter Amy, 19, began secondary school and they settled down in their native Claughton.
Hairdresser Amy said: “The person responsible for this has devastated our family.
“Our dad served in the Cheshire Regiment for 22 years and had missed several birthdays and Christmas with us. Now this was meant to be our family time together.
“We will love our dad forever. He will never be forgotten and he will live on through us and our children.
“To live in the hearts of those we love is not to die.
“I still can’t believe he is gone. He was the fittest man you would meet and if he’d died from cancer or something we might be able to accept it – but not this way.
“I still think, because he spent so much time away when I was a kid, that he is just away again and I keep looking out of the window waiting for him to come back.”
On leaving the army Mr McKenna got a job with the NHS fitting equipment in patients’ homes, and joined the local TA to pass on his expertise.
The day he died Graham was teaching a class of TA soldiers at Altcar training camp near Formby, before coming home to collect Michael and head to the match.
His sister Angela Major said: “There was just no-one like him. He was the most fantastic, caring person you would ever want to meet.
“Amy and Michael loved their dad, and he loved them and Gill with everything he had.
“We will all miss Graham so much.”
The day after Mr McKenna died police released details of their main suspect, Gary Finlay, 46.
Finlay has not been seen since January 10 and a nationwide manhunt is under way.
Mrs McKenna said: “The person responsible has taken away my husband and soul mate. He was a much loved father to his children and friend to all his loving family.
“We urge the public to contact the police or Crimestoppers with any information.”
THE LIVERPOOL ECHO
