Timothy "Tree" Dale McKenzie

He leaves behind his loving wife of 47 years, Jesse Hope (Hirschberg) McKenzie, who, with Tree’s help, is writing this obit in 2017, although we certainly wished for it to be relevant in the far, far future. He also leaves behind his loving sisters Sherry Houser of Crawfordville and Tina Jarvis of Tallahassee.

Tree was predeceased by his mother, Jonnie D. McKenzie, and father, Reuben Oreal McKenzie; sister Angeline Mote and her husband, Ray; sister Kathleen Connell and her husband, Paul; brother, Michael “Butch” McKenzie, and his wife, Linda McKenzie; brothers-in-law Steven Hirschberg and Ray Jarvis (Tina’s husband); as well as dear aunts, uncles and cousins.

Tree was born as a teeny preemie in a tiny hospital on Monroe Street in Tallahassee on August 17, 1953. He grew up tall as a “tree,” which may be where his nickname came from back in the mid-70s. Even though he didn’t often use the “L”-word (Love), he met Jesse, his best friend for life, and the “L” of his life, in 1978, and they were married on December 26, 1979, just because that was the day the Clerk’s office re-opened after Christmas … and it made it easy to remember each year.

Tree graduated from Rickards HS in 1971. He joined the Army in 1971 and was honorably discharged in 1974. He always was proud of his Top Secret security clearance and said if he told us what he did then he’d have to kill us … but then he told us a little and we remained alive. Before and after the Army, he worked for the City of Tallahassee and then Leon County. After taking time off work to go to school on the last two years of his time-limited GI Bill, he graduated with an AS in Computer Science from Tallahassee Community College. In 1984, he started work with the State of Florida Department of Labor and, after the department changed names many times through the years, he retired from the Department of Economic Opportunity in 2013.

During his life he underwent many medical hardships but always, always worked hard to overcome them all. He was pretty much a medical miracle and often said he was “living better through pharmaceuticals,” but it really took hard work and a wonderful will to live and live well on his part. Tree and Jesse were avid hikers, cyclers and travelers. Retirement was the icing on the cake of a long life lived together making the most of everything and truly enjoying each other as well as nature and all its joys and beauty. They also loved their family and friends, and Tree was the very best son, brother, nephew, cousin, uncle and friend … and, of course … husband. He was an affectionate man and a man of few words, but when he did speak he was smart, funny and relevant.

In addition to Jesse, Sherry and Tina, Tree leaves behind his sister-in-law, Marcia Rosenberg and her husband, Robert; and his sister-in-law Kathy, Hirschberg; as well as wonderful cousins and cousins-in-law and nephews, nieces, grand nephews, grand nieces and friends. There really were no “in-laws” in his relationships but, so as not to confuse anyone, they’re added here.

If you would like to make donations, please do so to Big Bend Hospice or St Marks Refuge. But, more important, after you read this obituary, please do something special for someone today, whether paying for the groceries of someone standing in line at the register, or paying for someone’s meal at a restaurant, or visiting someone to whom you would bring a smile, or just a kind surprise for a stranger, friend or family member. And please keep paying it forward. Thanks from the McKenzies.