Necrology

William Bush MacKenzie '47

Aug. 9, 1925-Jun. 23, 2022

William Bush MacKenzie ’47, P’77 died on June 23, 2022, in Weslaco, Texas. Bill was born in Lowville, N.Y., on Aug. 9, 1925, and came to Hamilton from the Lowville Free Academy. 

Owing to World War II, his initial time on the Hill was brief. The first cohort of freshmen arrived on Aug. 23, 1943. Because he turned 18 on Aug. 9 of that year, and joined the Army Reserve two weeks later, Bill was called to active duty. Sent first to Fort Benning, Ga., for basic training as an infantryman, he was transferred to Fort Sill, Okla., to enroll in the Field Artillery Officer Candidate School. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, Bill went next to Fort Bragg, N.C., and finally joined the Allied Occupation Forces, serving in Germany until his discharge in 1946.

Returning to the College, Bill joined Chi Psi fraternity and was a midfielder on Hamilton’s lacrosse team in his senior year. Graduating with the Class of 1950, Bill retained his affiliation with his matriculating Class of 1947.

From Hamilton, Bill proceeded to Cornell University’s Law School, completing his LL.B. in 1952. After passing the bar examination, he moved to Canajoharie, N.Y., and joined a firm led by Bert H. Brower, another alumnus of Cornell Law School. Two years later, Bill became a partner in the firm known henceforth as Brower and MacKenzie. 

One of Bill’s classmates at Hamilton and a close friend, William Sawin ’46, had also come to the Hill from the Lowville Free Academy. William had a younger sister, Anita. She and Bill reconnected during his second year of law school, dated for two years, and on July 3, 1954, were married. They had four sons and a daughter. 

During the course of what would be a 40-year career, Bill served at different times as the Canajoharie village attorney and the attorney for Montgomery County, and also provided legal services to a number of local businesses and municipal corporations. 

Canajoharie had been his grandfather’s home in childhood, and it is clear by the breadth and depth of his service to the village that Bill felt a responsibility for its welfare. For a period of time, he was president of the Canajoharie public library and art gallery, as well as a trustee on the board of the Arkell Hall Foundation, established in 1948 by Bertelle Arkell Barbour to provide a variety of residential and community services to Canajoharie’s senior residents. He was active in the Montgomery County Red Cross and the Boy Scouts of America, serving as a Webelos leader, pack chairman, and Mohawk District chairman, during the course of which all four of his sons rose to the rank of Eagle Scout. Bill was also a member of the consistory of the Reformed Church of Canajoharie.

After he retired in 1992, Bill and Anita purchased a motorhome and set out to see the country. Drawn to South Texas, they purchased a home in McAllen, where they played golf. They continued to travel and became active in the First Presbyterian Church of McAllen. Ten years later, they sold their home and moved to the White Sands Retirement Community in La Jolla, Calif., where they lived for seven years, enjoying life overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2004.

Texas eventually drew them back, and in 2009 they moved to John Knox Village, a retirement community in Weslaco. After Anita died in 2013, Bill remained in place, playing bridge, supporting the Valley Symphony Orchestra, traveling with his family to South Padre Island, and studying the history and culture of South Texas.

William B. MacKenzie is survived by his daughter, Linda J. MacKenzie K’77, and four sons.

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