McKenzie is a native of Port Arthur, Texas, where she resides with her husband, Wilbert Ray McKenzie. They have five daughters and six grandchildren. McKenzie was elected by The Port Arthur News as aWoman of the Weeka (Monday, August 15, 2005 edition) as an honoree for her writings. The article speaks of her as a poet nominated by the International Society of Poets for 2005-06 (written by Mary Meaux, staff writer). The cookbook entitled Grandmaas Hands Cookbook: Itas All About Love is dedicated to her grandmotheraHilda Daigles Fentis, an ironclad-spirited woman that held the family together. It is her Louisiana style of cooking that is carried on throughout their family. The cookbook contains family favorites that have been used on special holidays and gatherings, written to preserve those family favorites with love and traditions for generations to come. As a published poet, McKenzieas work has appeared in Poetic Voices of America (aUndying Lovea), World Treasury of Golden Poems (aLost Lovea), The Gem (aA Prayer of Lovea), Theatre of the Mind (aWhy Me?a), Endless Mysteries (aJourneya), and On the Wings of Poetry (aMaybea and aYou Will Always Be My Lovera). Awards include Editoras Choice Award for aSolace, a 2004, Poet of Merit Award and a trophy for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry by the International Society of Poets at the 2005 Summer Convention in Washington, D.C., which was held on August 21, 2005. Motto has been: If God will bring you to it, He will bring you through it.