Janet MacKenzie

1929 - 2020

MacKenzie, Janet Dunn
10 January 1929 - 16 February 2020

Janet Dunn MacKenzie (Mary Janet), 91, of Denver, CO, died at home peacefully on Sunday, surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

Jan was a determined person with a gentle manner, whose life was intellectual, artistic, activist, and driven by her unflagging selflessness and love for humanity. She inspired lifelong admiration from her many friends, and she, in turn, was a fountain of love and support for them, as well as her children, grandchildren and their extended families.

She was born in Ben Avon, PA, outside of Pittsburgh, the youngest child with four older brothers. She attended Avonworth School from kindergarten through high school, earning a scholarship to Swarthmore College, where she majored in psychology, graduating in 1950. Later in life, she received a Masters in Education from the University of Denver, and a Masters in Special Education from the University of Northern Colorado.

After college, she was hired as a test developer by the Educational Testing Service located in Princeton, NJ, where she worked on developing a test to measure creativity. In 1954, she met a Ph.D. student in geology, David MacKenzie, to whom she was married for 65 years. The newlyweds embarked on a four-year adventure in and around the Mediterranean, following Dave's job in petroleum exploration, with stints in Tripoli, Istanbul, Paris, and San Sebastian.

She travelled widely over the decades and was undaunted as she tried to connect with individuals from all walks of life. In Libya and Turkey she developed an affinity for the region and became a lifelong advocate for Palestinian justice and freedom in the face of sometimes hostile opposition. Toward the end of their lives, she and Dave endowed a scholarship for graduate students from the Middle East at the University of Denver.

In 1958 the young family moved to Littleton, CO, where Dave had taken a job with Marathon Oil Company. Jan founded a bilingual French-English pre-school, hosted exchange students from Switzerland and Mexico, and encouraged her children to have formative experiences in other countries. Her social activism continued as she served on the board of the League of Women Voters, volunteered for the American Friends Service Committee, and created a career in education in the Littleton Public Schools, specializing in learning disabilities. After retirement, she volunteered in classrooms where her daughter Juani was a teacher, and in several other schools attended by her grandchildren. She was also a docent at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Another highlight was the four years she and Dave spent in London in the 1980s, where she reveled in the cultural riches of the U.K. and utilized her Master Gardener designation volunteering at the venerable Chelsea Physic Garden. All through her life she nurtured her creative side, experimenting in painting, stained glass, batik, and macramé, and attending performing arts events whenever possible.

As a last act of humanity and grace, having been recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, Jan chose to utilize the Colorado End of Life Options Act, passed by the Colorado Legislature in 2016, which she described as a great gift.

She is survived by her four children, Kathleen MacKenzie (Joseph Drexler), Juani MacKenzie, Ian MacKenzie (Lori Campbell), and Tom MacKenzie (Trang Le-MacKenzie), and her seven grandchildren, Cassandra, Ian Arriaga (Rhiannon), Miles, Caden, Beau, Charlie, and Quynh.