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Kenneth Oatway Mackenzie
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Social worker, administrator.
Born at Emerson on 14 November 1914, son of James Gray Mackenzie (1876-1941) and Lucy Mary Oatway (1889-1983), he attended the Central Normal School and graduated with a first class teaching certificate. He taught school (1934-1935) then entered the University of Manitoba, graduating in 1938 and completing an Honours course in 1939. The following year, he graduated from the School of Social Work at the University of Toronto.
He worked successively as Acting Executive Secretary of the Children’s Aid Society of Dauphin (1940-1941), Executive Director of the Children’s Aid Society of Western Manitoba (1941-1943), Provincial Superintendent of Child Welfare (1943-1944), Director of Public Welfare (1944-1952), Deputy Minister of Health and Public Welfare (1952-1961), Deputy Minister of Health (1961-1968), Chairman of the Manitoba Hospital Commission (1968-1970), and Chairman of the Manitoba Medical Services Insurance Corporation (1969-1970). He played a leading role in the introduction of Medicare in Manitoba. Poor health forced his resignation in September 1970 after which he was a consultant to the Minister of Health and Social Development.
On 26 September 1939, he married Lilljia Petursson (1917-1987) and they had three sons and a daughter. The family lived at 311 Waverley Street. He was an active member of the Unitarian Church of Winnipeg, serving as its Treasurer and Board Chairman, and the River Heights Community Centre (Treasurer, President).
He died at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital on 23 February 1971 and was buried in the Emerson Cemetery.
Marriage registration [James Gray Mackenzie, Lucy Mary Oatway], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth registration [Kenneth Oatway Mackenzie], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [Kenneth Oatway Mackenzie, Lilia Petursson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 25 February 1971, page 33.
“Toupin lauds Mackenzie,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 February 1971, page 31.
Annual Report 1970, Manitoba Health Services Commission, Legislative Library of Manitoba.
Obituary [Lillja Mackenzie], Winnipeg Free Press, 2 July 1987, page 44.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 April 2025
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