by jared cox community spotlight A-LISTS October marks the start of Fall with cooling temperatures, shorter days and the changing
of colors in nature. More exciting than all of that is the West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnival! As a child, I always looked forward to Halloween. Not just because I had the oppor- tunity to dress up, but because of my morbid personality. I’ve always had a morbid sense and a fascination with all things related to ghosts, afterlife and of course, those fabulous suits that funeral directors wore. It was this morbid sense that directed me to my first career as a funeral director. Of course, death and dying is no laughing matter, but when you’re Ken McKenzie, also a funeral director and owner of McKenzie Mortuary Services, located in Long Beach, you learn to appreciate the lighter, happier side of life. Ken is a Long Beach funeral director who started his career with a sense of humor that has not only helped drive his success but has also shed a positive light on the death care industry as a whole. Ken became interested in death care at the age of 12 when his father committed suicide.
Working with grieving families came very natural to him but he was turned off by the high costs of funeral services. In 1994, after eight years working for a Lakewood mortuary, he founded McKenzie Cremation & Burial Services in Signal Hill. He addressed his concerns regarding funeral prices and created a service for grieving families at half the price of local mortuaries. Ken has buried more people than you can shake a stick at. He’s no ruthless funeral director seeking to take all that he can from grieving families. Ken established a family charity for those who need assistance with funeral expenses and donates three percent of his professional service charge to the fund. McKenzie continues to give back to the community by sponsoring annual holiday food
drives and summer estate sales that directly benefit people who receive care at local cash- strapped hospices. With all that McKenzie does for the local Long Beach community, it is no surprise that he has received many accolades from Long Beach’s high-ranking officials. The Long Beach Community Business Network has named McKenzie outstanding business owner of the year for community involvement. Ken was also honored recently by the California Funeral Director’s Association with the title of “Funeral Director of the Year” Award. In 2002, Ken hosted the Golden Globe Award-winning Six Feet Under fundraiser at the Little Brown Chapel in Long Beach raising much needed funding for the Long Beach AIDS Walk. Over 500 people attended the event. Actor Tim Maculan made a special appearance for the event. Sodas, candy and assorted snacks were available for purchase inside of an open casket. After the screening, a raffle was held and prizes were retrieved from closed caskets. The bone-chilling experience raised over $7,000 for the charity. In 2006, McKenzie published the first ever Men of Mortuaries calendar, raising funds for
women going through breast cancer treatment. The Men of Mortuary calendar features hot, shirtless funeral directors and morticians from all over the U.S. With the calendar, Ken created the non-profit organization KAMM Cares. KAMM Cares is an organization that places money directly into the hands of persons going through breast cancer treatment. The funds raised from his calendars help pay for necessities such as child care costs, grocer- ies and other expenses that would be a hardship for some undergoing radiation and che- motherapy treatments. The Men of Mortuary calendar has received lots of coverage from many local news publications, news programs and was even featured in Playgirl Magazine. Ken, along with co-author Todd Harra, released a New York Times, bestselling book, Mor-
tuary Confidential. If you’ve ever wondered about death and those that work in the field, Mortuary Confidential offers a snapshot into the lives of the members of America’s oddest and most secret profession—undertaking. Based on 50 true stories, the book takes readers from bedside to graveside. With praises from award-winning author, Jonathan Mayberry and Emmy Award-winning gay icon, Leslie Jordan, Mortuary Confidential combines humor and poignancy to uncover the reader’s dark curiosity by exploring every facet of an under- taker’s life. A portion of the profits from Mortuary Confidential goes to benefit KAMM Cares Breast Cancer Foundation.
For more information on Ken McKenzie and McKenzie Mortuary, please visit their website at mckenziemor-
tuary.com. You can purchase Mortuary Confidential online at
mortuaryconfidential.com. You can find more information about the Men of Mortuary calendars online at
menofmortuaries.com.
OF LIFE AND DEATH FOR IT’S A MATTER MCKENZIE KEN
OCTOBER 2010 | RAGE monthly 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92