Businessman.
Born at Eyebrow, Saskatchewan on 13 August 1916 to Olive Maude Buckmaster (1887-1978) and Daniel James McKenzie (1881-?), he spent his younger years in Vancouver and Regina, attending Scott Collegiate and Balfour Technical before working for the Houston Willoughby Real Estate Firm. In 1940 he left Regina for Toronto, where he worked briefly on the assembly line of the Ford Motor Company until enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was stationed in various places.
While on a training mission from Uplands, Ottawa three weeks before the Wings Parade graduation ceremony, the Harvard plane he was flying crashed, causing him to have severe burns as well as broken bones. He recovered at Ottawa Civic Hospital, then endured many sessions of skin grafts at Christie Street Hospital in Toronto. He returned to training at Uplands and graduated in 1944, one year after the flying accident. While at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, he met Anna Baldwin. They married on 22 August 1944 and went on to have four children. After a short furlough for his wedding, he left for England, and was stationed in Bournemouth, St. Athens, Wales, and Wambleton before finishing his training just as the war was over.
After discharge from the RCAF, he returned to the Ford Motor Company and was sent to Regina, Calgary, and Winnipeg in charge of Parts and a short stint in Business Management. He retired in 1980 after 40 years with the same company. His hobbies were golfing and curling at the Wildewood Club, where he was also President (1979-1980). Over the years he belonged to the YMCA’s Men’s Club of Regina, St. Andrew’s Society, Chamber of Commerce, and then the YMCA’s Senior Section. He also served as President of the Wartime Pilots and Observers Association. In retirement he enjoyed trips to England, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and especially New Brunswick.
He died at Winnipeg on 30 August 2006.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 2 September 2006.
“Gerald Allan McKenzie,” Saskatchewan, Canada, Birth Index, 1875-1917.
“Daniel J. McKenzie,” Snellgrove Family Tree, Ancestry.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 9 February 2024
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