John Clark MacKenzie

John Clark MacKenzie died peacefully at his longtime home in Lakewood, Colorado on February 17, 2026 with his beloved wife Judy at his side. His four legged friend Carly, comforted John, showing her love, licking his hands, as John spent his last few days enjoying his view of his beautiful Colorado mountains.

As Judy expressed it:

"John Clark MacKenzie is at peace now, as he knew his last breath here would be his first breath in Heaven. John had a long struggle with lung cancer but, "he fought the good fight, he finished the race, he kept his faith." II Tim 4:7"

Judy shared the news of John's death with the following text: "John is hiking with Erin and Bailey along the beautiful paths in Heaven and Jesus is leading the way. He is laughing and so excited! I'm so happy for my John….."

All who knew John would know that Erin Rachelle was John's only daughter who tragically died at age seventeen in 2001. Some who knew John may not know that Bailey and Carly are among John's four legged companions, who John would not like us to refer to as dogs.

John was born December 24,1952 in Detroit, Michigan to parents Gordon Blair MacKenzie and Marion Wilberding MacKenzie, both of whom proceeded John in death. John was also preceded in death by his elder brother Gordon Blair MacKenzie Jr.

John is survived by his younger brother David (Joe) MacKenzie.

Also surviving John is their son, Jamie Fields, and Courtney, his wife and their grandchildren Ellison and Parker, of Georgetown, Texas.

John's education included Holy Name Elementary School and Brother Rice High School both in Birmingham, Michigan, U of D High School, University of Michigan (Go Blue!), and University of Colorado.

John was an entrepreneur, having started several businesses that he jokingly explained in his 50th High School reunion update notes . "I was basically "unemployable". John's brother David writes about this part of John's life in the essay that is attached to this obituary (see below). You are encouraged to read the beautiful tribute from one brother to another.

John had a lifetime love of travel and adventure, friendships, love of animals, and his never ending love of his wife Judy, with whom he combined all of his other loves as they traveled the world together in cars, motorhomes, boats, airplanes, bicycles and on foot. John had more best friends than anyone could count - many going back to elementary and high school days, through college years, career years and into retirement. He had the gift of making everyone feel like they were his best friend, but none like the love he felt for his Judy. They made a point to continue their traveling, even after his diagnosis, including his "bonus time" while in hospice, by traveling from Colorado to Michigan and back in their motor home, to California by plane and then by car, back to Texas, and on to Florida, back to Texas, and finally their final road trip to their home in Colorado. John had a full life and finished with the kind of death we all hope for - surrounded by love and care by those we love the most, in the comfort of our own home, with a faith that sustains us as we take our final journey.

Several of John's lifelong best friends preceded John to those Heavenly hiking trails, where, now without the limitations of our earthly imperfect bodies, they are able to join John, Erin and Bailey and follow Jesus as Judy saw them, as they celebrate lifetimes of love and friendship and they prepare a place for each of us to join them. May we all be Blessed with the kind of Life, Love and Faith that John MacKenzie has shown us, and may we all join him in Heaven when our work on earth is completed. Amen.

Judy expects to have a Celebration Of Life in honor of John in Michigan, a state he loved showing her, probably in the summer of 2026. She also hopes to celebrate John in Colorado in early spring. Remembering John and raising a toast to John, hopefully will ease the loss we all feel for him. As we all know, John was known to raise a glass, himself, from time to time.

When these plans are finalized, they will be posted here, and on Facebook. Also, please check this page again in the coming days to view a tribute video that will be posted in John's memory.

May God Bless Us All.

John's favorite charities were the following:

Tennyson Center - Tennysoncenter.org

Christian Appalachian Project - ChristianApp.org

The Seeing Eye - SeeingEye.org/give

Who Saved Who - whosavedwho.org

Wild Animal Sanctuary - www.WildAnimalSanctuary.org

The following tribute was written by John's brother David

MY BROTHER JOHN

I'm writing to say that John has left this life, and joined his beautiful daughter Erin in heaven. John and his wonderful wife Judy – and of course Carly - made the most of life since his cancer diagnoses almost two years ago. The amount of driving they did between Colorado and Texas and Michigan would constitute a heroic road trip by any definition, especially given the circumstances. There were hiccups along the way, when John's cancer would make itself known again – not wanting to be left out it would seem. But then with a bit of luck and strategic planning, the three of them got back in the car, drove to Petoskey Michigan, their northern home, back to Colorado, and then to Austin Texas and back several times to visit Jamie and Courtney, and the two grandkids, Ellison and Parker whom they loved so much. Happily, my husband Joe and I were able to visit them this year in all three of their homes. We always think of John in the apartment we love, who provided the nudge we needed three years ago. I said to him it's kind of expensive, to which he replied, "That's ridiculous – you love it and you can afford it," and here we are today, replacing our hundred year old windows, which sadly he will not get to see, but Judy most certainly will !

I know some of you haven't seen John for a long time, so I thought I would introduce him by way of resume while also highlighting a few of the qualities that made him so special. For so many reasons, John was loved by a wide circle of friends, many of whom he'd known since Holy Name Grade School and Brother Rice in Birmingham where he was MVP in both football and basketball – a little intimidating for me ! He started college in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan, but finished in Boulder at the University of Colorado and spent the rest of his life in the state he grew to love. Although John and my father had much in common, their larger than life personalities and their love of people, John had no interest in the corporate world – no one was going to tell him what to do, and I mean that in the best possible way. He had a brief stint with a large Ford dealer in Salt Lake City, and could have made a go of it there, but decided instead to branch out and become his most authentic self, if I can use that famously overused expression, but the only one possible for someone as 'real' as John.

By his thirties, John had become a successful entrepreneur with a collection of video rental stores which he placed under the "Video City" umbrella. It became the 'go to' place in Denver. In my google search, trying to track down the name of the business which I had forgotten, Google kept asking me questions. Was there a particular color associated with the store ? "Blue," I said out loud, "Yes" replied my search engine – it was my lucky day. "Was the vibe slick or more down to earth ?" Well that was a no brainer, given John had more humility, or 'down to earthiness' than anyone I knew. He had very little interest in material possessions. He just wanted to be with his friends. He wanted to be with his people - and in particular with Judy and his dog Carly, and often with his close friends Tim and Jenny. His video business, along with everything else in his life, became a reflection of that.

He sold the business just in the nick of time (pre-streaming) to Blockbuster and quickly embarked on his next venture 'Smart spaces' which as the name implied, was about making the most efficient use of the limited pace you had, and to this day remains the largest Murphy bed showroom in the state of Colorado ; with custom Murphy beds delivered to such neighborhoods as 'Lodo, Rino, Soco' and 'Nodo' and also to such legendary ski hubs as Aspen and Keystone, Vail, Breckinridge, and Telluride. He sold the business to a couple from Chicago who had always wanted to have their own business, and in Smart spaces were able to profit from John's foresight and the precision millwork technology he imported from Italy. Like many in our extended family, John had an innate sense of design, not that he would have said so.

More recently, John has focused on Score 'mentorship' with young men and women, who like himself, have always wanted to build a business of their own. I'm sure they found in John a sympathetic ear and an encouraging voice. Like my legendarily enthusiastic father, he was quick to move towards the positive. Like my dad, I'm sure he was looking for candidates who believed in themselves, knowing the rest would be easy. John's sincerity and listening ability, and his lack of judgement must have given many the motivation they needed to chart their next career path.

And lastly, John became a volunteer for girl's high school tennis. I can't help but feel that John must have felt closer to Erin who left this earth over twenty years ago - as he helped those seventeen year olds with their backhands, serves, overheads, and drops hots ?! For all of John's successes in life, I know that nothing came close to the pride he had in Erin, a loss almost too much for a human to bear, but somehow he did, and I think we can all be happy that sometime soon he will be united with her in heaven. But how do the rest of us go on ? Just how do we mourn ? I think by following John's lead, and by showing the love and compassion he showed our eldest brother Blair. And lastly, but not least, by having the courage that Judy, the love of his life, has shown us all. So 'let's raise a toast' with Bloody Mary's in hand, and exclaim, "My God that's good! "