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Purpose
Is a tribute to teachers who contributed to the development of students who were as Wavell State High and completed year 12 in 1969.
Obituary – Scott McKenzie in the Courier-Mail 2012
Teacher's faith lay in helping
Kenneth Scott George McKenzie
Teacher, administrator, financial adviser, volunteer
Born: September 16, 1940, Palmwoods
Died: March 29, 2012, Brisbane
BORN CONTRIBUTOR. Scott McKenzie, who spent many years searching for meaning in life, loved to help others.
IT CAME as no surprise when Scott McKenzie decided to follow in his Father Kenneth's footsteps and become a teacher.
The first child of Ursula and Kenneth McKenzie. Scott was born in 1940, when his father was head teacher of the school at Eudlo.
Within the next six years three daughters arrived – Felicity, Leith and Gillian – and the McKenzies moved around the state as Kenneth was transferred to various schools.
Scott was always one of his pupils – and a good. hardworking one. So, after two years in junior high school at Ayr, he was awarded the Sugar Miller's Scholarship.
Years 11 and 12 were spent in Maryborough, and through more hard work and aptitude he left with high grades and a teachers fellowship at the University of Queensland (and with a place at King's College for three years).
Mr McKenzie's advisers at UQ urged him to enrol in arts subjects, where his main talents lay. However, intent on studying science and maths, he couldn't be dissuaded.
Although he had been a committed Methodist and a stalwart of the Student
Christian Movement, during his final year of ternary studies he experienced a sudden change of outlook.
He had tussled with doubts for some time before becoming an atheist or, perhaps, an agnostic. he was never quite sure which.
This was the beginning of a lifelong quest for meaning. He read widely, subscribed to journals and websites, attended conferences and joined organisations including Sea of Faith in Australia (SoFiA), where he relished opportunities for discussing faith and spirituality.
In his later years, he discovered the Brisbane Unuitarian Universalist Fellowship, of which he became an enthusiastic and committed member.
During his education career, he taught science and maths at Innisfail and Kelvin Grove Then a Wavell State High, where he was subject master in science while also moderator for the Board of Secondary School Studies. He then spent many years in the Department of Education as secondary in- service co-ordinator. a role in which he acquired a deep understanding of the ways in which adult learning differs from that of children.
Among his responsibilities was the disbursement of Commonwealth funding across all systems – state, Catholic and independent – in which he showed considerable skill and empathy. It was a sad moment for him when the professional development program ended.
Mr McKenzie married his first wife, Patricia, in 1967, and they had two sons, Stuart and Euan. The marriage ended in 1989. about the same time as his position as secondary in-service co-ordinator disappeared. It was a time of much personal challenge, but with characteristic application he set about rebuilding his life and his career.
He explored setting up a training business and, for a while, took on the job of director of the Spina Bifida Association, an organisation in which he had been a longtime volunteer. He even attempted network marketing, but had to face the fact that he was no salesman.
Eventually, he was invited to join some former colleagues in a financial planning business and, at age 55, having taken early retirement from the public service, he studied by correspondence to become a certified financial planner.
He found money matters fascinating. but also satisfying as he loved helping people.
A born contributor, he worked voluntarily for many organisations including Apex the scouting movement. SoFi and the Australian Investor Association, tackling leadership roles with energy commitment.
His second marriage, in 1991. to Barbara brought a new direction as he now had a four-year-old stepdaughter, Mary. He embraced her as his own, adopting Mary after her birth father died.
When she was at Hillbrook Anglican School, he worked tirelessly for its P&F and later for the school council, of what he became chairman (he continued long after Mary left school).
An upright, honest, trusting and trustworthy man of integrity, the large turnout at his funeral was testimony to his belief in doing "less harm and more good in the world".
Mr McKenzie is survived by his father, Kenneth, wife Barbara, sons Stuart and Euan, daughter Mary and granddaughters Tasman and Pomona.