Richard M. McKenzie, 66, of Glen Ellyn, a former Glen Ellyn police officer and DuPage County sheriff’s detective, died Thursday, Jan. 4, in Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. Mr. McKenzie retired from law enforcement in 1979 after 15 years with the sheriff’s office. He also was a volunteer fire chief with the Keeneyville Fire Protection District before it merged with the Carol Stream Fire Department. Mr. McKenzie was born in Flint, Mich. He served in the Marines during the Korean War and was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” said his wife, Peggy, who noted that her husband was a member of the DuPage detachment of the Marine Corps League, a veterans organization. For the last 17 years, he worked as a custodian at First United Methodist Church in Glen Ellyn, where he participated in the Walk-in Ministry. For seven years, Mr. McKenzie operated the scoreboard at Glenbard West High School football games. “That was one of his favorite things to do,” said his wife. Other survivors include a son, Jeffery; a daughter, Jeanne Dease; his mother, Ruth Armstrong; two brothers, Roland and Rodney; and six grandchildren. Services have been held.
