In Memoriam
David J. MacKenzie
David MacKenzie
1963 graduation
Dear Guy, thank you so much for your kind
words about my late husband David and for remembering him. He always said
his days at Yale were some of the best and he cherished his association with
Yale and the friendships re-established at the Reunion greatly
My children and I miss him deeply.
Attached is one of the published obituaries
If it would be possible for me to receive a copy of the class notes and
website access in due course , I'd be grateful
I hope we may stay in touch.
Kind regards, Khadija
from Steve Day:
"An ill-favored thing sir, but mine own".
No Shakespeare, I, so this is the best I can conjure. I am sure Kiwi would forgive, and buy the next round, as well.
Wet, pink lips, doing a startlingly good impression of a fish. That was my introduction David “Kiwi” MacKenzie.
David’s passion was photography, and we spent endless hours in the Timothy Dwight darkroom, developing film and a friendship.
Kiwi was not a morning person, and he was in constant peril of failing classes scheduled at hours better suited to farmers.
We tried all manner of devices to get him out of bed, and keep him out. He would find the hidden alarms, the radios, the flashing lights, disarm them, and return for another class-avoidance session with our rather spartan bunk beds.
I shall miss his risqué double entendres from the "Land of the long white cloud".
from Vic Sheronas:
David MacKenzie, a.k.a. Kiwi, and I shared the same entryway in our freshmen year in McClellan Hall; David had a single on the fourth floor. Being from New Zealand, he was instantly nicknamed Kiwi. Being both gregarious and an extrovert trumped any shyness about being a foreigner from halfway around the world; he immediately joined in on most any of our freshman silliness. Matter of fact, he'd instigate many of them. To me, he was most known for his over-the-top escalation of squirt guns. Water fights, usually squirt guns but sometimes balloons, would erupt often and spontaneously. Most of us participants chose a small, but very accurate, squirt gun; of course, being small, it had limited capacity and must be reloaded often. On the other hand, Kiwi opted for capacity, for endurance. He bought this big honking thing requiring two hands to hold; wasn't particularly accurate but it could go on forever before needing more water. I lost track of him after freshman year. Blessedly, our paths crossed at our 50th reunion. I was delighted to reconnect with him and to join him as one of the speakers honoring our professors.
from Mike Skol:
I came to know David very late in our lives, as we prepared for the discussion group on Yale-in-Singapore at our 50th. Dozens of e-mails, but face-to-face not until the reunion itself. Since then we shared thoughts on our cataract surgeries (we both saw more clearly in our seventies than ever before). But it was his clear-headed comments on his adopted country, Singapore, that I best remember: His reasoned optimism about the political and economic future of that city-state was, for me, more valuable than all the writings of certain academics (at Yale and elsewhere) who imposed their ideologies on a place in which, for the most part, they had never set foot. And this brief acquaintance with him was one more example of how my circle of friends within the Class of '63 has continued to grow.
from Jerry Selness:
I got to know David (Kiwi) at our 50th when I shared a suite with him for the reunion. We helped each other at the reunion and on the last day he volunteered to take with him to New Zealand on his next trip there, business cards and sell sheets for my America’s Cup art of 1988, 1992 and 1995 races. He graciously followed through with his offer, identifying the right galleries and sales outlets at the Auckland basin for limited edition prints of my onsite renderings of the starts and finishes of each race. He is remembered for his enthusiasm and Kiwi can do attitude.
from Aretese:
You will be greatly missed.
Your enthusiasm, contributions and friendship will be remembered forever.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Khadija, Sarah, Daniel and Manna.
Your friends at Aretese.