Sir Roy Allan McKenzie (7 November 1922 – 1 September 2007) was a New Zealand horse breeder and racer, and was well known for his philanthropy.

Biography

McKenzie was the son of Sir John McKenzie, who founded the McKenzies retail chain. He was born in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

but went to school at Timaru Boys' High School and attended the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served in the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

and the

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as a bomb aimer. He married Shirley Howard in 1948, and they had three children together –

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, John and Robyn. He was captain of the New Zealand ski team in the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, were a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 1952 in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Discussions about Oslo hosting ...

, the first Winter Olympics that New Zealand entered; though as he was injured he did not compete. He worked as a chartered accountant after the war, and was the Executive Director of McKenzies (NZ) Ltd from 1949 to 1970. He also served as a director for several other companies. From 1955 he was the principal at the Roydon Lodge horse stud, and he bred, trained and raced many leading horses, including Roydon Glen, Sundon, Game Pride, Smooth Fella, Scottish Command, Jay Ar, Bonnie Frost, Captain Adios, Castleton's Pride and Garcon Roux. From 1947 to 1993, McKenzie was on the Board of the J R McKenzie Trust, which had been established by his father in 1940 to distribute a proportion of the profits from his businesses for the benefit of the people of New Zealand. For 23 years, McKenzie chaired the Trust. He set up two other grant-making bodies: the McKenzie Education Foundation and the Roy McKenzie Foundation. McKenzie was also patron of the

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organisations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn. Today there are organisations, called schools, i ...

Trust, and a councillor at the Council for Educational Research. In 1978 McKenzie helped found New Zealand's first

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

, Te Omanga. He also was a benefactor and founding patron of the Seabrook McKenzie Centre, which assists people with specific learning difficulties and their families. In 1990 he played a major role in setting up Philanthropy New Zealand, which was a regular meeting of charitable groups in New Zealand. In the

1989 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1989 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, McKenzie was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to education and the community. He was made a

Member of the Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by Royal warrant (documen ...

in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours, and

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

and

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

bestowed honorary doctorates upon him. A film about his life, ''Giving It All Away'', was made in 2004 and screened at the 2005

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

.eFilmCritic.com Giving It All Away
/ref> McKenzie's son

was well known for his work in conservation.

Publications

* ''The Roydon Heritage''. 1978. The Roydon Lodge horse stud. * ''Footprints – Harnessing an Inheritance into a Legacy''. 1998. . Memoirs.

References

External links

New Zealand Herald obituaryObituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 21 September 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Roy 1922 births 2007 deaths University of Otago alumni Members of the Order of New Zealand New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand male equestrians New Zealand racehorse owners and breeders New Zealand male alpine skiers New Zealand military personnel of World War II Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel People educated at Timaru Boys' High School People from Wellington City 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople 20th-century New Zealand philanthropists 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen

Biography

See also

Publications

References

External links