Jean Mckenzie

Jean Depew McKenzie 91, died on February 11, 2022.

Jean told her kids that when she died she didn’t want a big obituary. This is her children’s last opportunity to disobey.

Jean Frances DePew was born on New Years Day, 1931 in Chicago where her father, Marshall Depew, worked for Reid Murdoch, a wholesale grocery business. Shortly after she was born her father was transferred to Denver, only to die soon afterwards due to complications from meningitis. Her mother, Frances, was left a widow with limited resources and two children, Jean, 3 years old, and Bill, 12. She loaded the children and Marshall onto a train and returned to Madison which was their original home.

Beating the odds during the depression, Frances managed to buy and operate an appliance business on the Capitol Square. This was quite remarkable for a woman during a time when 25 percent of the workforce was unemployed. Because she had no father and her mother worked long hours, Jean became a very independent child. She remembered a happy time with friends in her neighborhood on the near east side, and playing cards with her grandmother, Emma, who lived upstairs in their house on Spaight Street. When she would arrive at home after school Emma would have the cards shuffled and ready to go. Lake Monona was right out the back door of their house and Jean developed a spiritual love of the lake. Despite needing every penny to support the family, Jean remembered her mother’s charitable spirit. Whenever homeless men came to the door Frances would make them a sandwich.

Jean attended Wisconsin High School which was located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. She had a small graduating class of about 50 kids. After graduation she entered the University of Wisconsin where she joined the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority and was designated a “Badger Beauty”.

Fortunately for her children who would otherwise never have existed, she happened to be in line to enroll in a botany class when she attracted the attention of a sophomore, Richard McKenzie, who was from LaCrosse. He was no doubt drawn to her great beauty and engaging personality. She said she was especially drawn to the fact that he had his own car. When many of their classmates partied, Jean and Dick’s courtship involved 10 cent macaroni dinners and lots of card playing. Eventually she graduated with a finance degree and Dick went on to complete law school.

As a woman with a finance degree, Jean had numerous opportunities for a career in business including a job offer in New York. Instead, she chose to marry Dick and on their honeymoon in France a week later she became pregnant with the first of their three children. She said she never regretted choosing family over career and to her children she was the perfect mother. She parented by example although she did often wonder if her children were paying attention. Thankfully for them she was patient and understanding.

Even though she decided against a career, she had numerous noteworthy accomplishments. She was a founding member of the Rivers and Lakes Commission which later became The Clean Lakes Alliance. Later she was the president of United Way of Dane County. She was also on the board of Meriter Hospital for many years, and also the board of the Elvyem Art Center which later became the Chazen Museum of Art. She was an active member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood in Madison for most of her adult life.

Well into the second half of her life, she started Jean McKenzie Collections, a jewelry business operated out of her home. It was fabulously successful and many of Madison’s finest were seen all over town wearing distinctive necklaces and bracelets following her annual trunk shows in Madison and Naples, FL. She loved the business despite Dick’s frustration at being driven into his den to avoid the crowd on show days. Eventually he began to appreciate the business when he saw her bank account swell.

In her mid 60’s she was diagnosed with a terminal cancer and given under 6 months to live. Miraculously with determination and world class medical care, she survived another 29 wonderful years. Her doctors referred to her as their miracle patient. This blessing of additional time allowed for a lasting impact, especially on her grandchildren who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to learn from her grace, insight, and compassion. She introduced them to her love of art, design, and nature.

At the four family cabins on Upper Kaubashine Lake in Hazelhurst, WI, she was famous for cooking giant piles of bacon with waffles and other tasty baked goods. Everyone would flock to her cabin in the mornings to fill their plates, talk and laugh. It was always a special time there with the family and friends filling the beautifully restored cabins that had originally been built as a fishing camp in the 1930’s. Jean banned TV which turned out to be brilliant because the kids turned their attention to the world around them. There was canoeing, fishing, swimming, hiking or just sitting on the dock watching the eagles, otters, ducks and loons and enjoying nature. The cabinet in the main cabin was filled with games, puzzles, and decks of cards.

Unfortunately, Jean lived to experience the tragic loss of her son, Tim, to Pancreatic cancer and her granddaughter, Erica, to Sepsis. She is survived by her husband Dick who she would be married to for nearly 70 years, her son, John (Jo Ellen), her daughter, Lisa Livesey (John), her daughter in law MaryAnn, 8 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren with 2 more on the way, and numerous beloved friends.

On the day she went to hospice at Agrace, there was a beautiful great horned owl that appeared in the middle of the day in a spruce tree behind her house. Nobody in the family had ever seen an owl there before that day. The majestic creature sat there for quite awhile staring into the window where family and Agrace staff were meeting. Everyone moved to the window to look at the owl as it stared back. Within a half hour of the owls appearance, Jean went into decline and the decision was made to transport her to Agrace hospice. Before she left she was visited by her daughter-in-law, MaryAnn, who upon hearing about the owl, said the same thing happened on the day Tim died. After researching the subject of owls and death the family learned that there was a common belief in Native American culture that the owl is a sign of impending death and that an owl transports a person onto their next journey. Was this a spirit animal waiting to take her to join Tim, Erica, Frances and Marshall? You be the judge.

At Agrace, on the last day that she could effectively communicate, Jean told her grandchildren that she would find a way to visit in a way unique to them when they needed her. However that may happen, she will forever be in our hearts. We will always be able to hear her gentle voice encouraging us to be the best people we can be, to be kind to others, and to enjoy every moment we are blessed to have with friends and family.

The family would like to thank the staff of Agrace for the tender loving care they provided during Jean’s final week.

There will be a private family ceremony at a later date.

Cress Center

6021 University Ave. Madison

(608) 238-8406