Maurice Wilfred (Will) McKenzie

Will McKenzie was born on September 4, 1927 in Mangum, OK.  He recently wrote memoirs of his life and he says about his birth, “Being late for the beginning of the church service is, in my opinion, almost as bad as missing it altogether.  Therefore, I was not disturbed when I came forth on a Sunday morning about 11:00, and we didn’t make it.  With my mother having to recover, and the doctor having to go through his routine plus paperwork, there was just no chance to get to church on time.”  We believe Will did his best not to be late to church again in his lifetime, and he became a preacher in order to unlock the doors for everyone else.

In the spring of 1932, during the Depression, Will’s family moved from Oklahoma to eastern New Mexico, and lived on a 160-acre farm that his grandfather had traded for, sight unseen.  Times were hard, and living in a tarpaper dugout and using cow chips for fuel to cook their food made an impression on Will.  He said he learned the saying, “This is a great country where the wind pumps the water and the cows chop the wood.”  The family lived on that farm for 6 years, until Will was 10, and he frequently remembered the hardships of his early childhood.  Later, the family moved to Portales, NM, and Will thought that having running water, electricity, and an indoor toilet were the best things ever.  Will’s dad became a builder and contractor, and they continued to live in Portales.  Will’s grandfather was a preacher; he died on a Sunday, shortly after stepping down from the pulpit.  Will always said he wanted to go that way, but God had other plans. Will graduated from high school in Portales and went on to college at Eastern New Mexico University, with one semester at Abilene Christian College.  He graduated from ENMU in 1948.  He preached his first sermon at age 11, and when he was in high school and college became a traveling preacher for small churches in the eastern plains of New Mexico and in west Texas.

On June 18, 1950, Wilfred McKenzie married Germaine (Lynn) Rogers at South Denver Church of Christ, while Will was working on his Master’s Degree at the University of Denver.  In the following years, they were blessed by the births of four sons: Steve, Tim, Mark and Joel.  During these years, Will and Lynn lived in various locations in Colorado, and then moved to Carlsbad, NM for a couple of years. In all these places, Will preached, taught classes and often contributed to building programs in the church.  He frequently had to take on side jobs, in order to make enough money for his family to live on.

In 1968, Will was hired by the North 4th Street Church of Christ, in Albuquerque, N.M., which became Riverside Church of Christ in 1980.  He served the congregation faithfully and well, especially when the church moved to the present location on the Westside of Albuquerque.  Will and Lynn lived in a camping trailer on the property for 9 months, while the building was being built.  The church met in the preacher’s home on the property, into which Will and Lynn later moved. Much of the building was done by volunteer labor, and Will spent more hours on the project than any other individual.  He had great construction skills, especially in carpentry, which he had learned from his father.  As the church grew and expanded, Will and Lynn’s son, Mark, was hired to be the Associate Minister at Riverside in 1985, and Will and Mark shared the pulpit as “dual preachers” for a number of years.  On June 18, 2000 (Lynn and Will’s 50th anniversary), Will officially retired from preaching at Riverside, and they fulfilled a lifelong dream of moving to Montrose, Colorado.  There, they were able to purchase their own home for the first time in their lives.  They made many dear friends, and Will had an opportunity to preach and teach again.  But, because of Lynn’s newly discovered health concerns, they decided it would be best to move back to Albuquerque to be closer to family.  They returned to the Riverside congregation in November of 2002.  Will was soon reinstated as an elder in the church, and he served diligently in that capacity for years.  His dear wife, Lynn, went to be with the Lord on May 28, 2016. Will and Lynn had been married nearly 66 years.  The past four years have been hard on him, and he felt the loneliness, but he had a keen mind and a studious soul, and continued to enjoy teaching his adult Bible class until about three months before his death.  He passed from this life on Thursday, January 28, 2021, at the age of 93.

Will is survived by his sons: Steve, and wife Aimee, Tim, and wife Carma, Mark, and wife Dawn, and Joel, and wife Jo.  He leaves a legacy in his fifteen surviving grandchildren: Christina McKenzie Willenbrock, Catherine Campbell, Laura McKenzie Hudson (husband Shane), Matt McKenzie (wife Jennifer), David McKenzie, Nathan McKenzie, Annie McKenzie Gomez (husband Leo), Zhanna McKenzie, Ella McKenzie Richardson (husband Kros), Cato McKenzie (wife Hannah), Olivia McKenzie Hicks (husband Matt), William McKenzie, Joselynn McKenzie, J.L. McKenzie, and Jordan McKenzie.  In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by three grandchildren: Mikal Amanda McKenzie, Josiah David McKenzie, and Bonnie Lynn McKenzie.  Lynn and Will have twelve great-grandchildren: Braden, Amalia and Elliah Willenbrock, Zoe Campbell Hayes, Jesse and Caitlin Davis, Cadence and Caroline McKenzie, Shiloh Hicks, Everett and Fletcher McKenzie, and Margo Gomez.  Will is also survived by nieces and nephews, and many brothers and sisters in Christ.

Will dedicated his life to serving the Lord.  A life-time labor of love was spent at Riverside Church of Christ.  Donations may be made in his honor to the Riverside Church at 3100 La Orilla NW, Alb., NM 87120 (www.riversidecoc.net).  A Memorial Service will be held Friday, February 5, 2021, at 6:00 p.m., and will also be available by streaming on Facebook at Church of Christ – Riverside, or on YouTube at Riverside Church of Christ–ALB NM.  A private family interment has already taken place on Saturday, January 30, 2021.