Catherine (Kaye) MacKenzie

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Catherine (Kaye) MacKenzie of Sydney Forks, on June 30th, 2026, at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, surrounded by family. She was born on September 7th, 1940 in Quebec. Formerly of Port Hood, she was the daughter of the late Dan J. MacDonald and Christine Gillies.

Mom left home at the age of sixteen to move to Halifax where she found employment and rented an apartment. She spoke fondly about the people she met there and the visitors who came from Cape Breton to stay with her. At a dance one night in Halifax, she met her future husband, and the love of her life, Carl MacKenzie, a fiddler, from Washabuck, CB. They were married for 54 years, until Carl’s passing in 2018.

They raised their five children in Sydney Forks. Nothing made them happier than a house full of family and friends. Their children have fond memories of many late nights where sleep was next to impossible because the house was so alive with the sounds of a good kitchen party. Many happy days were also spent in Port Hood and Washabuck.

Mom lived a full life and never stopped moving until her recent health issues, even travelling with family to Paris in 2024. She walked, shopped, cooked, baked, travelled, played cards with her dear friends, babysat neighbourhood children in her home and cared lovingly for her grandchildren. She also returned to the workforce as a cleaner for the school board after her children were grown. She was an active member of St. Mary’s Parish and the Catholic Women’s League in East Bay for many years.

Kaye is survived by her five children: Sheldon MacKenzie, Shannon (Denise) MacKenzie, Coralie (George) McPhail, Lyndon MacKenzie, and Patricia MacKenzie, nine cherished grandchildren: Christopher LeBlanc, Sloan MacKenzie, Elle MacKenzie, Brooke McPhail (Neil Verg), Cameron McPhail, Carleigh MacKenzie (Mitch Barron), Kendall MacKenzie, Carter Gagnon, and Madelyn Gagnon. Kaye also leaves behind three siblings: Gary MacDonald (Bonnie Dawe), Marguerite MacDonald (George Landry), and Anne (George) MacDougall, sisters-in-law: Rosemarie Sampson, Rose MacDonald, Charlotte (Vince) MacLean, brother-in-law: Columba MacNeil, and many nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her parents, husband, Carl MacKenzie, brothers: Stanley Gillis, Melvin MacDonald, and Burton MacDonald, sisters-in-law: Helen (Andrew) MacLean, Annie ‘Sister’ (Benny) MacLean, Joan (Ranald MacDonald, Johnny Gillis) Gillis, Mary (Stanley) Campbell, and Jean MacNeil, and brothers-in-law: Simon (Winnie MacGillivray) MacKenzie, Charlie ‘Brother’ MacKenzie, Murdoch MacKenzie, Hector MacKenzie, and Ronald MacDonald.

We would like to thank everyone who helped with caring for Mom at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, especially the staff on 4C.

Visitation will be held at TW Curry in Sydney on Monday, July 6, 6-9 PM. Funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Mary’s Parish in East Bay, on Tuesday, July 7 at 10 AM, with Father O’Connor presiding. Burial to follow service. Memories and condolences can be shared with the family by visiting twcurry.com.