Donald Gordon McKenzie (1887-1963)

Farmer, MLA (1927-1932), MLA (1933-1936).

Born at Brandon, Manitoba on 9 April 1887, son of Roderick McKenzie and Janet McDonald, he was educated at Brandon Collegiate and the Manitoba Agricultural College. He farmed near Brandon and, from 1916 to 1926, served as Secretary-Treasurer of the United Farmers of Manitoba. In April 1926 he was appointed by the federal government to the Advisory Board on Tariff and Taxation. He was appointed Minister of Mines and Natural Resources and Provincial Secretary in October 1928, then elected to the Manitoba Legislature at a by-election held in November 1928. He was re-elected at the 1932 general election. In 1939 he moved to Winnipeg as Vice-President and General Manager of United Grain Growers. In 1945 he was appointed Chief Commissioner to the Board of Grain Commissioners of Canada, retiring in 1957.

On 18 November 1914, he married Katie Belle Cole (?-1946), daughter of Alexander and Margaret Cole, of Brandon. They had seven children: Margaret Janet McKenzie, Kathleen Donalda McKenzie, Alice Lillian McKenzie, Rae Alexander McKenzie, L. Jean McKenzie, Donald Roderick McKenzie, and John Malcolm McKenzie. He served as President of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Club of Winnipeg, and the International Peace Gardens Association. He was a member of the Board of Governors for the University of Manitoba, Brandon College, Provincial Exhibition Board, Manitoba Health Services, and the Dafoe Foundation. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club (Brandon), Elks Club (Brandon), Masons (Brandon Lodge), and St. Andrews River Heights United Church (Winnipeg).

He died at his Winnipeg home, 28 Cordova Street, on 14 May 1963 and was buried in Brookside Cemetery.

He is a member of the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame.

Source:

Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

The Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1934. [Manitoba Legislative Library]

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 15 May 1963, page 38.

This profile was written by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 26 December 2009

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