|
Pastor Othniel Benjamin
McKenzie, an ordained minister of the Seventh-day Adventist church
for over 45 years, died on Sunday, June 10 at his home in Linstead
St. Catherine.
According to his caregiver Miss Alva Cole, at about 4 o’clock in the
morning Pastor McKenzie and herself had a cup of tea and was engaged
in a lively conversation, as he was his usual jovial and cheerful
self. An hour later he went back to bed. Later that morning, at
around 8 o’clock, Miss Cole went to check on him and there
discovered that he had passed away in his sleep. “My heart is
burning, words can’t even explain how I am feeling,” Miss Cole said,
“I have been taking care of him for over 12 years and he is always
so cheerful and nice.”
Pastor O. B. McKenzie was born on April 5, 1924, the last of nine
children born to Matilda James and Ezra Jeremiah McKenzie, in Bocas
Deltoro, Panama. At the age of seven he began to attend the Sabbath
School in his community and got baptised at fourteen.
He attended the Seventh-day Adventist Church School in Colon and the
Panama College of Industry, before migrating to Jamaica to attend
West Indies College (now Northern Caribbean University). After two
years of study he completed the teacher’s training course and went
back ten years later to complete the Bachelors in Religion. At the
age of fifty he gained his Masters in Religion from Andrews
University in Michigan.
His ministry started out in West Jamaica Conference, interning with
Pastors K. G. Vaz and J. C. Palmer. He was later ordained in 1960
and in 1962 served as a member of the Executive Committee of Central
Jamaica Conference, when it was being organized.
He retired in 1992 at age sixty-eight, after serving Central Jamaica
Conference for 30 years. During that time he served as: a member of
the Conference Committee for 15 years, the Union Committee for 2
years, Assistant Stewardship Director for 4 years, a member of
school boards for 10 years, and Chaplain for the Ministerial
Fraternity.
Some of the Pastoral Districts where Pastor McKenzie served
includes; Maggoty (in the parish of St. Elizabeth); Comfort Hall (in
Manchester); Chapelton (in Clarendon), St. Ann’s Bay and Brown’s
Town (in St. Ann); Port Maria and Clermount (in St. Mary); and
Linstead, Ewarton, Bagbie, and Palm (in St. Catherine). And even
though he was retired and visually impaired he continued working for
the Lord, witnessing to whoever he could.
“He was a very dedicated and committed pastor, with a warm and
affectionate spirit. He was able to relate to a wide cross section
of workers and members alike. One of the things that stands out is
that whenever you meet him and ask him how he was doing his response
would be ‘alive and kicking,’” Pastor Everett Brown, President of
Central Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Pastor Levi Johnson, Secretary of Central Jamaica Conference,
visited the home immediately after hearing of Pastor McKenzie’s
passing and prayed with those who were there. “He was the one that
baptized me and have been my mentor over the years,” Pastor Johnson
said, “he was biblically sound, a deep thinker, approachable,
jovial, and Christ-like. The church has lost a great soldier.”
Pastor O. B. McKenzie is survived by his wife Pearline, his three
children Judy, Maurice and Orvil, and other relatives and friends.
His funeral service will be at the Spanish Town Seventh-day
Adventist Church Sunday, June 17 at 10 a.m.
-
Source-Kemar Douglas / CJC
June 18, 2007 |
