Obituary of Brad MacKenzie

(Robert Bradley)

 

Brad MacKenzie, the adored husband of Gail and father of Mike and Jeff, passed away on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at the young age of 68 years from brain cancer. Brad was born in New Westminster, BC on November 4, 1955 and lived in Calgary and Sherwood Park near Edmonton as a child and young man.

 

Aviation was one of Brad's most cherished life-long passions. When he was sixteen and living in Sherwood Park, he earned his private pilot's licence and enjoyed taking his family and friends up for rides. Over the years, he flew Cessnas and Diamonds as well as other planes. In 2008, Brad was thrilled to have been at the controls of a 1944 P-51 Mustang named Crazy Horse in Florida and an SNJ Texan in San Diego. He had a great time flying in a gyrocopter in Florida, a Zeppelin airship in San Francisco, biplane rides in Florida, a B-17 Bomber in Calgary, and many helicopter rides. He loved visiting aviation museums and on one road trip on the West Coast in 2015, he visited five.

 

Brad graduated from the University of Alberta in 1980 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering; then in 1981 he obtained an MBA. He moved to Toronto when he was hired full-time with Imperial Oil Limited; then in 1985 he was transferred to Ioco Refinery in Ioco, BC. Brad met Gail in Toronto when he was a summer student and in 1989 they were married in Coquitlam, BC where they started a family. In 1993, the family moved to Calgary, AB where Brad worked in Imperial's downtown head office and ended his career as External Agreements Manager in the Refining and Supply Department.

 

Brad's greatest source of pride were his two sons, Mike and Jeff. Mike is an accomplished musician with his own band and Brad loved to be in the audience of as many concerts as possible whether they were local or in other cities in Alberta. Jeff is an accomplished entrepreneur and Brad loved to talk business with him and to hear how his businesses were coming along; he was always there to answer Jeff’s call.

 

When Brad retired from Imperial in 2010, he and Gail started to do more travelling. They loved travelling all over the world together visiting 40+ countries, 180 cities, four Hawaiian Islands, and three islands in the South Pacific. Favourite trip locations included Florence, London, Sydney, New York, the Falkland Islands, Vancouver, Seattle, Hawaii, and Los Angeles. They loved cruising and driving on road trips, always exploring what each location had to offer and appreciated being there. If there was an aviation museum in a city, Brad would go. Whether visiting with family and friends, travelling, running errands, working on projects together around the house, or watching television, Brad and Gail were virtually always together.

 

One of Brad's all-time favourite events was the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh annual seven-day air show extravaganza in Oshkosh, WI. He was so happy to have gone four times including 2022 and 2023. When he was there surrounded by airplanes, he was home.

 

Brad also loved woodworking. His attention to detail, organizational skills, and desire to do things as well as possible enabled him to build beautiful furniture for his home and for his sons. He could fix anything, build anything, and provided knowledge on virtually any subject. Brad was well known for his problem-solving abilities and was the one you would go to for help with anything; and yet he was very humble. He loved to help everyone and to work on projects with Mike, Jeff, and Gail.

 

Brad was an avid reader and owned over a thousand books on aviation alone. He also loved to learn about and study anatomy and physiology and had many books on these subjects as well. Brad enjoyed learning how things work and was always happy to share his new discoveries. Music was another life-long passion. He had a large collection of CDs, records, and concert DVDs; and played guitar throughout his life. Brad and Gail attended over 40 concerts together and also studied Italian together.

 

In June 2023, Brad had a great time attending his 50th Anniversary High School Reunion outside Leduc, AB. Mike's band provided the musical entertainment - a very proud father moment. In August 2023, Brad travelled to Fernie, BC to see Jeff's beautiful new home build; even assisting with some of the construction - another very proud father moment.

 

In keeping with his favourite things, Brad’s advice to us all would be to:

 

● Spend time with your family

● Be there when someone needs you

● Always be generous and grateful

● Read

● Travel

● Study a subject you are interested in

● Learn something new and share it - learn a musical instrument or a new language

● Appreciate music, art, and comedy

● Help your neighbour

● Visit with friends

● Visit museums

● Go for walks

● Be a problem solver for yourself and others

● Have a sense of humour and make someone laugh

 

Brad is also survived by his sister Lauren and his niece Elianne; and by his brother Kim and sister-in-law Heather, his niece Becky and nephew Jarad; and many relatives who live in the Vancouver area. Gail’s sisters Bonnie, Patricia, and Marie and brother George as well as Mike’s partner Jill, also shared a very loving relationship with Brad.

 

Brad and his family are very thankful for all the excellent care he received over the past year. He had an amazing team of doctors, nurses, and support workers at Foothills Medical Centre (especially Dr. John Kelly), Tom Baker Centre, and South Health Campus. Thank you also to Brad and Gail’s family and friends who always made Brad laugh, loved and cared about him, kept his spirits up, and cheered him on. You are all very much appreciated.

 

If friends and family wish to do so, memorial tributes/donations may be made directly to the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, 205 Horton St E,  Suite 203,  London,  ON, N6B 1K7, Telephone: 1-800-265-5106, www.braintumour.ca or to Brain Cancer Canada, PO Box 30007, RPO Woodbine Heights, Toronto, ON, M4C 5J2, Telephone: 1-855-713-1301, www.braincancercanada.ca. 

 

Memories, stories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Brad's family on this page.