Jack McKenzie
October 2, 1927 - August 22, 2018
The following is an excerpt from a tribute to Jack McKenzie — a past recipient of the R. Tait McKenzie Award and influential CAHPERD committee member — written by Nick Forsberg, professor of Health, Outdoor, and Physical Education at the University of Regina, and delivered at Jack's memorial service.
I consider it a privilege and I am humbled to share some words about Jack – a special friend for the better part of 35 years who has had such an influence on me as an educator, and an individual who has made such a significant contribution to the fields of Physical Education and Outdoor Education.
I first met Jack back in the early 1980s when I was an undergraduate student in the Faculty of Education, University of Regina. I will never forget meeting this mountain of a man. I recall vividly the size of his hands and feet – they were huge! But what I learned very quickly was that this paled in comparison to the size of his heart.
It is often said that some people in this world are ahead of their time. This was most certainly true of Jack. The way that he thought about education and schooling and the need for children and youth to be actively engaged in teaching and learning, often in the outdoors, was the foundation of Jack’s philosophy.
The work that Jack was doing in the fields of Physical Education and Outdoor Education through the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and beyond, was and continues to be recognized here in Regina schools. These contributions have also extended provincially and even nationally.
I was recently asked in an interview to describe Jack. For me, Jack was a “shaker and a mover.” He made it a point to seek out individuals and programs that could influence him and could support the work in physical education and outdoor education that he was so passionate about. He took a sabbatical to Vauve, France to witness firsthand a unique elementary school program that recognized the important value of the arts and physical education. He then established a similar program at Sherwood School in Regina with the support of his good friend and Principal, Elsie Mironuk. He visited the Toronto Island School to experience outdoor education programming in an elementary school and this helped shape his programming at the public school board and also became the catalyst for the Saskairie Outdoor & Environmental Education Centre in the Moose Mountains. In all these endeavours, Jack not only demonstrated the willingness to learn but also an ability to translate that learning into action. He was always willing to push the envelope and effect change in education.
Jack’s work in these initiatives and many others did not go unnoticed as he was often sought out for his counsel. He was an invited representative and served on many boards, both provincially and nationally.
Jack’s influence and inspiration were not only felt by his friends and colleagues across the country, but it was also experienced by many of our undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education and more specifically the Health, Outdoor, Physical Education subject area. Jack consistently engaged in professional development workshops with the students, he also accompanied students and myself on many outdoor education trips to Saskairie in spring and winter well into his 80s.
Jack saw that serving others is the truest and most honest leadership that we as people should emulate. Jack embodied this and modeled this for all of us. He also had an innate ability to encourage all of us to become involved. As Steven Covey wrote, “The deepest part of human nature is that which urges people — each one of us — to rise above our present circumstances and to transcend our common nature. If you can appeal to it, you tap into a whole new source of human motivation.” For me, Covey’s words are not simple words on a page in a book but more importantly, words that Jack lived by.
I consider myself to be so fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach and learn alongside such an inspirational, caring, but above all humble human being. I know that I am a better person for having known Jack MacKenzie.
In closing, I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you the words Jack used to challenge University of Regina students (and perhaps even us) at the Fall 2015 Convocation Ceremony where he received his Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree. I believe these words also speak to his legacy and the way in which he lived his life: “Go with your heart and do not be distracted by either money or lifestyle.”
Rest in peace Jack; It is so richly deserved.