“For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. “
Wordsworth
Ian James MacKenzie, born August, 18, 1924, died after an extended illness, November 7, 2015. He is gone, but not forgotten. As he insisted, he lived all of his last days in the home he built. After what was a happy and rich afternoon and evening of prayers, music, stories, and poetry, together with extended family present, just after six in the morning, Ian James passed away with the taste of ginger ale on his lips, while outside a steady night into the day of a calming storm of rain fell.
Born in Vancouver, he travelled at a young age with family back to his ancestral home of County Corbella, Ireland, and met the girl he eventually married and returned to the west coast of Canada. Together with Agatha, and their growing family, Ian moved to the Sunshine Coast in 1957 and lived here until his last day. Ian leaves behind eight children; 12 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren, and extended cousins and nieces and nephews, and his loving wife of more than 63 years. Ian is predeceased by his sister and brother. At a young age, Ian trained and worked as a lifeguard and was certified in First Aid by St. John’s Ambulance and was an accomplished bagpiper marching in the PNE Parade, as well as performing as a Scottish Highland dancer. Ian retired in 1989 from the Port Mellon Pulp and Paper mill after 33 years of working as an Electrician and then moved back with his wife to their old family home, the white house on the highway for his retirement to enjoy gardening, caring for his duck pond, and his small forested property.
A funeral mass was held November, 12th, 2015, at 11 AM, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 956 Gibsons Way. Reception and lunch to follow.
Please contact Kenan MacKenzie for additional information, 604-885-7810.
A Celebration of Life and Interment Service at the Mount Elphinstone Pioneer Cemetery will be held at a later date to be announced.
“Oh, did you hear the waves?—did you hear the sounds of the ocean? Did you feel the salty breeze?” Ian James MacKenzie, the morning after his final trip to Gower Point Beach, October, 19, 2015.
Additional notice and photograph are posted on the Devlin Funeral Home website, Gibsons, B.C. (www.devlinfuneralhome.ca)