A life devoted to excellence
DR KEITH McKenzie was born on August 9, 1927 in Guy’s Hill, St Ann. He was the only child of the Reverend Arnold Ashbourne McKenzie, an Anglican minister and Rita Ford McKenzie, a postmistress. The family soon moved to Grange Hill, Westmoreland, which Dr McKenzie would consider his hometown for the rest of his life.
His parents placed much value on education and sacrificed dearly for young Keith. At the early age of four he was sent to attend infant school in Lucea, Hanover. He continued his education at Morris Knibb Preparatory School and Jamaica College in Kingston, catching the train back home or getting rides with the Gleaner man during vacations.
After graduating from high school, Keith went to work as a medical technician in the Government Laboratory on North Street in Kingston, and also worked in Port Antonio. He applied to the fledgling University College of the West Indies and was accepted to become a member of the historic first class to study medicine at the university in 1948.
At the university, ‘Wee Mac’, as he was affectionately called, was housed and taught, along with his classmates, in the wooden buildings of the Gibraltar Camp which had been constructed in World War II to house the refugees from Gibraltar and Malta as well as German and Italian prisoners of war. Later on in campus life when Hall 3, later named Taylor Hall, was built, Keith was named the First Hall Chairman. This was a testament to the strong leadership qualities he displayed from an early age.
FINDING LOVE
It was during his university years that he met and courted a young medical technologist named Norma Elaine King, whom he married on December 15, 1956. The young couple lived and worked in Kingston, where their only child David was born on February 6, 1961. In Kingston, Dr McKenzie worked at the Kingston Public Hospital in the medicine wing, and then in 1963 began working as a paediatrician at the Children’s Hospital later to be renamed the Bustamante Hospital for Children. He pursued specialised training in paediatric cardiology in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1962 and Toronto, Canada in 1966. His devotion to excellence led to his appointment as senior paediatrician at Bustamante Hospital for Children. He was later recognised as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1977. In 1985 he received one of Jamaica’s highest national honours when he was awarded the Order of Distinction, Commander Class.
Dr McKenzie enjoyed over 50 years of public service and private practice as a paediatrician, renowned and admired by all who came in contact with him. Following the death of his beloved wife Norma in 2004, Keith retired from medicine. He later fell in love again and married Venice Cecelia Guntley, an Anglican minister, in 2006. Keith and Venice enjoyed social functions and travelling, and gave devoted service to the Church of the Ascension in Mona Heights.
After a short illness, Keith departed this life on September 17, 2017. He left behind his wife Venice, son David, grandchildren Brian and Catherine, numerous colleagues, family and friends.
Dr McKenzie enjoyed over 50 years of public service and private practice as a paediatrician, renowned and admired by all who came in contact with him.