Elwood McKenzie

Elwood DeWayne McKenzie, age 83, of Litchfield, died on Sunday, July 18, 2010 at the Meeker Memorial Hospital in Litchfield. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 1:00 PM at Zion Lutheran Church with Pastors Harvey Nelson, Christian Muellerleile, and J. David Nelson officiating. Visitation will be held on Friday from 4:00 until 7:00 PM at Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home and will continue one hour prior to the services at the church. Military honors will be provided by Litchfield Military Honor Guard. Interment will be in Lake Ripley Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Emmanuel Home and the Alzheimer's Association. Elwood DeWayne McKenzie the son of Oscar and Guida (Avery) McKenzie was born on April 7, 1927 in Annandale, Minnesota. He grew up and received his education in Litchfield, graduating in 1944. Elwood served his country by enlisting in the U.S. Naval Service on March 8, 1945, and he was honorably discharged on July 11, 1946. Elwood met and fell in love with Mary Bergette Trongard and in 1949, they were married in Sacred Heart, Minnesota. Elwood & Mary were blessed with five children and raised their family in Litchfield. He worked as a heavy equipment operator for Johnson Brothers Construction and Phillippi Truck Crane Service. Elwood truly was a devoted & caring husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and brother. The lessons he taught his children were through his example; Elwood taught his children to work hard and take pride in a job well done. His devotion to his wife, Mary, was paramount in his life. Elwood was very proud of his grandchildren and every moment spent with them and sharing in their successes was a gift. The gift of great grandchildren brought him great joy later in life. Elwood enjoyed sharing a beer and giving advice to his friends and neighbors at the Legion Club in Litchfield; he thoroughly enjoyed watching Twins baseball and Viking football. He was famous for his “traffic stopping” sweet corn growing in his garden on the corner of Davis and 2nd Street and was the neighborhood “go to guy” if you needed something fixed. If he didn’t have the tool for it, he would build one. Elwood just seemed to know what the inside of every machine looked like. Elwood is survived by his wife, Mary of Litchfield; children, Kathryn (and Leif) Anderson of Litchfield, Melodie (and Dan Moore) McKenzie of Jensen Beach, FL, John McKenzie of Litchfield, Robert (and Susan) McKenzie of Brooklyn Center and Thomas (and Brenda Ellis) McKenzie of Minneapolis. He is also survived by grandchildren, Trent (and Lisa) Anderson and Meggann (and Alex) Carlson; great grandchildren, Kimberlie and Elise; sister, Arlene Dougherty of Perham besides other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Bill and Donald McKenzie, sisters-in-law Naomi and Norma McKenzie and brother-in-law Joe Dougherty.