Mary Ellen Kindt McKenzie (Ellen), deid peacefully in her sleep on Sun, Jan 24, 2021, age 92, while in hospice in Chico, CA.
Ellen was born on Jun 24, 1928 in Kenosha, WI. She is predeceased by her parents, George Marcus (Mark) and Nettie Titania (Tanie) Hill Kindt, brother, Orin Hill Kindt, sister, Joann Kindt, and husband, Arthur Vincent McKenzie.
Ellen is survived by children, Alison (Tim) Mahoney, Robert Douglas (Carlene) McKenzie, and James Lawrence (Clara) McKenzie, four grandchildren, Geneva (Chaz Prentice) McKenzie, Dor (Herman) Ward, Jane Clare McKenzie, and Ian James McKenzie, and two great grandchildren, Theo Michael Leary, and Eleanor Ward.
Ellen took piano lessons from an early age. She attended the Chicago Musical College during the late 1940s where she studied with Rudolph Ganz. She married Art McKenzie in 1950 in Chicago. In 1952 the couple moved to Palo Alto, CA, then to Los Altos in 1960.
During the 1950s and 60s, Ellen was a member of the Two Piano Club and Fortnightly (Piano) Club. She took up the violin and later the viola, playing quartets informally with friends and relatives. She gave piano lessons from 1958 to 2011, when she moved to Chico.
Ellen began to write fiction in the early 1960s. Between 1968 and 1994 she published eight novels for children and one picture book, under the name Ellen Kindt McKenzie. She was an ardent conservationist, excellent cook and baker.
Ellen had a flare for writing humorous poetry, telling jokes, and making puns. Her lively imagination, sense of fun, and sunny outlook will be sorely missed.