Mervonne Lolare McKenzie

Mervonne Lolare McKenzie (nee Gilbert) February 13, 2022. Salutatorian of her Onalaska High School class - a school too small to field a football team - she became an avid basketball fan, particularly at the college level, and will be sorry to miss this year’s NCAA tournament.

She was proud of her PHT (Put Husband Through) from Tri-State University in Angola, Indiana where her husband William G. McKenzie earned his engineering degree. The couple moved to Racine in 1957, where she enjoyed playing in neighborhood bridge clubs, bowling in leagues at Shorecrest Lanes and she worked for many years as a secretary in the Racine Unified School System.

She loved theater and traveled to New York many times for Broadway performances. She locally supported the Racine Theater Guild. Music was an important part of her life. She sang in the church choir and loved the Racine Symphony Christmas concerts at Festival Hall.

In recent years, she lived at an assisted living facility in Wauwatosa and enjoyed daily visits from her daughter Ellyn and Ellyn’s little dog Dan. Mervonne’s immediate family includes Ellyn McKenzie (Milwaukee) and Roger McKenzie (Palm Harbor, Florida). She has two granddaughters Rachel McKenzie and great-granddaughter Lilliana (Tarpon Springs, Florida) and Leanna McKenzie Harwell (Drew Harwell) and great-granddaughter Elia (Silver Spring, Maryland).