DALLAS (March 23, 2020) – The world was a dramatically different place back in 1916, the year Verna Stewart McKenzie was born to Floyd and Mary Daniels in Harrison County, Texas. World War I was raging. Much of Texas was still rural. Segregation was a fact of life for most African-Americans.
Verna Stewart McKenzie ’56
But for McKenzie, who recently marked her 104th birthday earlier this year with a party at the African-American Museum of Dallas in Fair Park, the world would prove full of opportunities. She graduated from Central High School in Marshall, Texas, in 1936 and later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bishop College in Marshall. She immediately went to work as a teacher, working in elementary schools in Harrison County. She eventually earned a Master of Education from Prairie View A&M University in 1956.
“She was the fourth-oldest child and the second-oldest girl,” said daughter Jean Stewart ’65, who earned her own Bachelor of Science from PVAMU in dietetics. “Three of her brothers attended college; one attended PVAMU, receiving a B.S. in agriculture. All five of the girls attended Bishop. They were first-generation college students, and their parents encouraged all of them to pursue post-secondary education. They wanted them to have professional careers, to make something of themselves.”
McKenzie (left) and daughter Jean Stewart ’65 (right) at McKenzie’s 104th birthday party in Dallas.
Make something of herself, McKenzie did. In 1939, she married Rev. John R. Stewart. The couple had two children, twins John Jr. and Jean, and were married until his death in 1971. In 1973, Verna married Joseph McKenzie; the pair were married for 23 years until Joseph’s death in 1996. Throughout her life, Verna was an educator, working not only with Harrison County, but with the Dallas Independent School District, spending 21 years at Phillis Wheatley Elementary School and then another ten at John Neely Bryan Elementary School. She retired in 1979.
McKenzie traveled the world, with stops in Paris, Rome, London, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Greece, and Turkey. She still summers in Martha’s Vineyard, where she is keen to point out former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama have purchased a home. In addition to John Jr., now deceased, and Jean, her family includes four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.
McKenzie stands next to her parking spot at Good Street Baptist.
“She is still quick-witted,” said Stewart. “She loves to tell jokes, reads the newspaper without glasses, and until recently, drove a Toyota pick-up truck. She was known as the ‘Hot Rod Diva’ among her church family. She has her own parking space at church, Good Street Baptist.”
PVAMU alumni can stay connected at www.pvamu.edu/alumni.
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By Holly Beretto