Mrs. Denise McKenzie '69

My life has been quite an interesting one.  I have been married for 46 years to my high school sweetheart, Michael McKenzie '70.  We have 5 children: 3 sons and 2 daughters.  Our sons, Michael ’94 and Daniel ’03, and our daughters, Bernadette ’95 and Maureen ’98, were all graduates of Bonner & Prendie.  Our youngest son, Jim, is profoundly deaf, so he has always attended programs for the deaf and graduated from Wissahickon High School in ’06. We have been blessed with 13 beautiful grandchildren. I was a junior high teacher, teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at St. Laurence School for 34 years, and I retired in 2018. Shortly after I retired, I was asked to fill in at the Admissions Office and have been there ever since. Perhaps the most amazing thing that happened to our family was the miraculous cure of our daughter Bernadette of a debilitating spinal ailment. The woman we prayed to, Blessed Francis de Sales Aviat, became a saint after Bernadette’s miracle was recognized by Saint Pope John Paul II.    

Through my husband’s former occupation as an Audio Engineer and his work with the White House Communications Agency and the National Governor’s Association, we have had the pleasure of meeting both Presidents Bush, President Clinton, Hillary Clinton, President Jimmy Carter, Steven Spielberg, Rob Reiner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, many of the nation’s governors through 30 years, and Saint Pope John Paul II.

Why Bonner & Prendergast?

Bonner & Prendie has been woven into the fabric of my life since I entered Prendergast as a freshman in 1965.  It is where I met my husband, educated 4 of our children, and now where my husband and I now spend our days in our golden years. It has always been like a family here. Remember, 'There is no place like home.”