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Times StaffAlice McKenzie wore many writing hats in her 27-year career at the defunct Clearwater Sun.
CLEARWATER - Alice Lyon McKenzie, a staff writer for the former Clearwater Sun, died Monday (June 14, 2004) at her home in Clearwater. She was 96.
The veteran journalist who traced her bloodline back to the Mayflower and once wrote advance obituaries for local dignitaries, died peacefully in her sleep, according to a daughter, Catherine Shackton of Clearwater.
Mrs. McKenzie first came to the area in 1938 from her native Coldwater, Mich. She began her 27-year writing career in 1955 in the newsroom of the Clearwater Sun and once told a reporter that the only thing she wouldn't write was sports. She was a general staff reporter, covering circuit court and the former court of record, and throughout her time with the paper, which closed its doors in 1989, she served as religion editor, food editor, garden editor and travel editor.
Mrs. McKenzie is best remembered for her many years as the paper's book editor and staff writer of "The Bookshelf" column. In her spare time, she wrote feature articles. She retired in 1982.
Born March 17, 1908, she was a member of the former Cary Cox Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, descended through George Winslow of Massachusetts. She was born into a pioneer family that moved to the northern Indiana and Michigan territory soon after the Erie Canal was opened. She was a descendant of Benjamin Franklin along three lines of descent going back to Peter Folger of Nantucket, Franklin's maternal grandfather, and a descendant of George Soule, a Mayflower passenger who signed the Mayflower Compact, and a second cousin to the late Dickinson H. Bishop, a first class survivor of the Titanic.
As an active member of the DAR, Mrs. McKenzie served as both conservation and scholarship chairman, and was a member and former vice lieutenant governor of the Gov. William Bradford Colony Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Florida.
She was a member of the Florida Women's Press Club (now the Florida Press Club), where she won numerous honors for her writing. She was also a former member of the Clearwater Chapter of the National League of American Penwomen.
She held a spot on the girls' basketball team while attending the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her husband, Bernard L. McKenzie, died in 1972.
A bird lover, she created a stir in her quiet neighborhood with her generous bird feeding and was nicknamed the Bird Lady.
Even after retiring, her love for newspapers and writing continued. Through the years her writing could be seen in the Letters to the Editor section of the St. Petersburg Times.
Survivors include four children, Margaret Hanson, Eastham, Mass.; Patricia Alice McKenzie, Clearwater; and twins, Catherine Shackton, Clearwater and Stephen W. McKenzie, Palm Harbor. Her eldest son, Thomas Michael McKenzie, died as an infant. She is also survived by six grandchildren, Thomas, Timothy and William Shackton, all of Clearwater, Christy McKenzie, Palm Harbor, Brian McKenzie, Naples, and Jennifer Hanson, New Jersey; and seven great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be at 10 a.m. with the funeral at 11 a.m. Friday at Rhodes Funeral Home Druid Chapel, Clearwater. Donations may be made to the Florida Sheriff's Youth Fund.