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Sadly this afternoon I was informed that John McKenzie of Midland Appliances had passed away unexpectedly this morning.
Many of us knew John well from the meetings and conferences with his larger than life persona, one that everyone who knew John had a lot of time for.
Many here will know him from the help he gave them, most often with no recognition for that.
Anyone I spoke to just really liked John, one of the few people that there truly seemed nobody had a bad thing to say about.
In short a lot of people will be incredibly sad on hearing this news, I am one of them along with being a bit at a loss over what to say. I counted John as a friend and I will sorely and greatly miss the banter, jokes and jibes I had with him whenever we spoke.
As I said, this was unexpected but that is really not a sufficient word to put this sad passing into context. Shocking. Numbing. Stunning. Maybe any, maybe all.
My deepest sympathy goes to his friends, family and especially to Shirley who truly is one in a million and, John would agree on this, largely as she agreed to marry him, eventually.
Rest in peace my friend.
K.
Re: A Great Loss
RIP John.
A glass will be raised by many. Now since we can’t talk to you, we will talk about you, in remembrance of happy times.
George
Re: A Great Loss
really sad about this, known him for years and one of the few “older” engineers at the meeting 2 weeks ago not talking about retiring…
He was every Scottish comedy cliché rolled into one, a really nice guy and always so helpful and gave his knowledge freely. UKW and the trade has lost a legend.Re: A Great Loss
He will be missed by all and it is a great shock to here the news.
This is another reason I am retiring at the end of the year as none of us can tell how long we have left to enjoy life.
I will miss him at the meetings as he had a good sense of humour.
Bob
Re: A Great Loss
Totally shocked to hear this awful news. I was one of many people I’m sure, that John had helped out.
I didn’t see much of him at the last meeting, but my last words to him were, “see you in September”.
A lovely guy.
My condolences to his family.
R.I.P. Big man.Re: A Great Loss
John Mac was one of the first people to get the whole Uk Whitegoods community up and running
when it was little more than a bunch of guys in an email list on a bulletin board.
I remember him being there a the very first meeting before the site was even invented.His presence at any meeting would ensure lively debate and close scrutiny of any topic
discussed. Delivered with his own inimitable style of caustic Witt and Glaswegian banter.He always tried to give the impression that he was not bothered by anyone or anything but those that really got to know him soon found out that it was all a front. He was one of the most supportive
And dedicated members of this site, giving generously of his time and efforts in helping it to succeed.He served the community well as a Moderator, Advisory Council Member, and as Advisor on the many forums he contributed to.
Best of all though, was the fact that when he attended the many Uk Whitegoods meetings and
Social functions you could guarantee that he would be the life and soul of the proceedings.My heartfelt condolences and sympathy go out to His wife Shirley and daughter Julie. I can’t begin
to imagine their sense of loss.Sean Delaney
Perhaps it would be an idea at the next meeting to mention his contributions to this site and better
still to raise a dram to the man I came to call friend.Re: A Great Loss
After leaving the raf I did the Dixon white goods course, I had my heart set on a career in whitegoods but I really struggled to get a route into the business due to my lack of experience. I emailed dozens of companies volunteering my services for free, the experience was what I was after more than the money. John was the only person to reply, he offered me an interview despite my inexperience and after said interview I got the job at MDM appliances. From day one he was brilliant to me, he taught me so much, it was a sad day when the company closed. Anyway as I said John was a real mentor to me, he was so passionate about the trade, and that rubbed off on all around him. So gutted to hear the news, RIP John.
Re: A Great Loss
I too was shocked and saddened to hear about John’s tragic passing the other day. Unfortunately I unexpectedly couldn’t get to the recent meeting owing to a health scare, luckily not serious in the end, so didn’t get to see him then. I’m glad to be semi-retired these days and able to do other things as like Bob said, you never know when it’s your turn and then it’s too late.
I would like to send my deepest condolences to his family, who will no doubt have a lifetime of happy memories to help console them during the difficult weeks and months ahead.
GeoffRe: A Great Loss
a very sad loss to the whitegoods repair community, I would like to send my deepest condolences to his family.
bob.
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I remember meeting him before I left from the meeting this time. He was really knowledgeable and liked tech stuff. I felt really welcomed when I met him for first time. Its a great loss. We will miss you John.
SudeepRe: A Great Loss
So sad to read of John Mac passing my condolences and deepest symphony to his family and friend. Fasetester
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I will reiterate what everyone has said. Like Sean Delaney I was there at the first meeting ever held in a Premier Inn at Peterborough and met John for the very first time.
He had that lovely lilting Scottish tone and you didn’t need sub-titles. He was in no way pretentious a good listener and above all excellent company.
Sad indeed.
Alex
Re: A Great Loss
That’s an interesting point about pretentiousness Alex.
No, John certainly wasn’t, but when you think about it, there’s nobody in our regular group of attendees who is. It must be the industry we’re in. The combination of simultaneously having to deal with customers, manufacturers, service providers, spares wholesalers [or one in particular], staff and the need for a high level of skill at either running a company or accurate fault diagnosis, or both, must mean that everybody has any pretentions towards pretentiousness knocked out of them very quickly.Re: A Great Loss
rip john what a shock i got when i started reading this post
its a true testament to you with all these members leaving such nice tributes
ally
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