Lawrence MacKenzie

He left behind a hell of a lot of tools, bits of wood, old Nana Mouskouri and Leonard Cohen albums, and Ziploc bags full of golf balls to his daughters and son who have no idea what to do with them. So if you’re looking for drill bits from the 50’s, buckets of rusty screws, bolts (and heaven knows what the other things are), or broken golf club shafts that dad was certain would be used for something someday, you should wait an appropriate amount of time and get in touch. Tomorrow would be fine. This isn’t an ad for Kijiji, but a tribute to a great Man, Husband, Father, Grandfather and Friend born on March 29, 1936 in Vancouver, B.C., the son of the late William and Winnifred MacKenzie.

Larry had many adventures along his life’s journey. He left his farm home in Langley at the age of 14, tooled around at various jobs throughout the province, played pool and poker for money to get by and studied for an engineering diploma at night. As a young adult he came to climb telephone poles for BC Tel, a job that would eventually lead him to becoming District Manager for Kamloops until he retired in 1992. Retirement wasn’t his thing however, and golf wasn’t quite enough, so he reinvented himself as a stock broker, volunteered his time for the crisis line, and became Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department for the Rivershore Golf Community.

Larry married his main squeeze, Donna Mae (Bickford) MacKenzie in 1958 with whom he had three children: Brenda (Fleming), Cheryl (McDonald – husband Patrick) and Greg Mackenzie. His beloved grandchildren: Riley, Evan, Andrew, Olivia and Graham will reminisce about grandpa teaching them how to swing a golf club, select the right tool for a task, make his famous Christmas morning omelet, and how to inflict pain with just the right snap of a wet dishcloth. His love of golf was only surpassed by his love of the Canucks and it would be one of his biggest regrets not to see his team win the Stanley Cup. But he’ll be remembered by everyone he encountered for his selflessness, humble nature, patience and sense of humour. He loved his family with all his heart, instilled strong values and a work ethic that have served us all well. He will be dearly missed and forever in our hearts.

Our family wishes to thank Dr Malan and the fabulous health care workers on RIH 5 North for the care and compassion they gave to Larry and our family.

We hope to celebrate Larry’s life at a later date when it is safe to do so.