Jean Margaret MacKenzie

September 11, 1943-September 9, 2024
  It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Jean MacKenzie, who, after bravely coping with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), passed away peacefully at her home in Brewster with her husband and children at her side. She was just shy of her 81st birthday.
     Jean was born in Rochester, NY to David and Margaret Wilson of Glasgow, Scotland, and spent a happy upbringing in nearby Pittsford. After summer vacations at Brownies Cottages in Wellfleet, her parents retired to Orleans in the ’60s; the hills of the Outer Cape reminded them of their home country. Jean spent summers working at Collins Cottages in Eastham while attending Simmons College, where she graduated with a degree in publishing and design. After graduation, she traveled, staying with relatives in Scotland and Cornwall before taking a job in London as a graphic designer at Thomas Nelson publishing house.
  On a vacation back to Orleans to visit her parents, Jean met her husband-to-be, Donald, at the Land-Ho. A long-distance relationship ensued, and soon she returned to the states to marry. Jean and Don quickly became known for their warmth and hospitality, as well as their creativity and work ethic. They built their house from scratch on Swamp Road in Brewster, where they raised their three children, Jessica, Gillian, and Donald. There, Jean could be found tending her gardens; baking bread for school lunches; painting; creating elaborate Halloween costumes, Brewster in Bloom parade concepts, and themed birthday parties; knitting; stocking her vegetable and flower stand; playing the piano; reading to her kids and hosting a rotating circle of their friends through the years—among many other pursuits.
When family friends Nancy and John Landon opened The Brewster Book Store in 1982, Jean, along with her sister-in-law Jane, became its first employees. Over the next four decades, store regulars would come to know Jean for her welcoming presence, her taste in novels, and the artful window displays she designed—many of which are still in use today. Jean passed along her passion for books, design, and gardens; her son is a landscaper, one of her daughters is a literary agent and the other recently became the Brewster Book Store’s co-owner.
But perhaps Jean’s most ambitious project, undertaken with her husband, was the revitalization of the land that was originally the massive aquarium complex called Sealand in Brewster. They bought the property in the mid-1990’s, and along with their son, meticulously took the deteriorating site down, ridding it of its assorted tanks, pools, and equipment. Using recycled materials, they built a new family house overlooking the site’s tidal marsh. The cafeteria was transformed into a violin studio, the shark tank into a greenhouse, and the parking lot and former dolphin pool site into gardens. Many may know of Jean by her stunning bouquets created from these gardens, sold at her flower stand and gracing tables at weddings.
Jean is survived by her husband Donald of 56 years; her children Jessica Devin and spouse Rich Devin of Ashburnham and Brewster, Gillian MacKenzie and partner Wes Stinson of Eastham, and Donald MacKenzie and spouse Katy Day of Orleans; her adored grandchildren, William and Madeline Devin, and Alistair MacKenzie; her sisters Kathy Whitelaw and Mary Wilson; her siblings-in-law, Jane MacKenzie, Ralph MacKenzie, Georgene Riedl, Suzanne MacKenzie and Adam Pettengill; and extended family and friends.
  Jean will be remembered for the care and love she gave her family; for the extraordinary inventiveness and beauty she brought to everything, whether a table setting, primrose garden design, outfit, or hand-drawn holiday card; and for her quiet grace, which was perhaps most pronounced as she faced her illness. It serves as a model for us all.
  A celebration of life will be held at a future date.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests planting a favorite bulb to remember Jean by, or making a charitable contribution in Jean’s memory to Brain Support Network, at https://www.brainsupportnetwork.org/donate/