Priest: Elizabeth reigned like a queen

MURDERED farmer, 64-year-old Angela Elizabeth Mc Kenzie, lived like a queen on earth and has gone to be among the “community of angels and saints” said Roman Catholic priest Alan Hall.

The parish priest of the La Divina Pastora Church in Siparia believes she maybe already started to plant crops and make wines in heaven, as she often did for many people including himself. Officiating at the funeral yesterday, he told a packed congregation that if they get that aroma in the air, it’s a sign that Mc Kenzie has already started to plant a garden up in heaven.

“And if you get a stronger whiff, know she is giving them some kind of cocoa wine or pommecythere. She will make heaven even better than it is at the moment,” he said.

A resident found the body of the mother of five last week Wednesday in the front yard with chop wounds to the neck, shoulders and hands. Her neck was almost severed. Mc Kenzie lived alone in a forested area off Quinam Road in Siparia. Relatives believe the killer is a man whom Mc Kenzie caught red-handed digging yams from her garden about two weeks earlier. He is believed to have mental problems.

Mc Kenzie had told the priest of the “scroungers” were not only stealing produce but also watching her in the face while doing it. He had told her to pray for them and that God would handle that.

When he heard about the death, Hall said he posted on his Facebook account that he was privileged to have known Mc Kenzie.

“We are not into revenge. Beth would not want us to leave here with feelings such as anger, hatred and revenge. The presbytery was filled with everything she had in those acres of land— plantain, cocoa, sorrel. I still have some wine chilling from what she made. Elizabeth was a woman of profound faith.”

“There is so much to learn from her. Her life was short-lived. We have lost the presence of a profound woman, we have lost the presence of a wonderful parishioner.”

Mourners burst into laughter when the priest said, “That woman had more energy than half of them who are in the Government.”

Vicar General and former parish priest the Siparia church Fr Martin Sirju also spoke highly of Mc Kenzie’s generosity, strong faith and love for people. In prayers, he thanked God for her willingness to give “even though she was stolen from, over and over again.” “We thank you for her special love for clergy. She is always bringing something for them, and even for myself, in San Fernando and at Port of Spain. He prayed for God to console the bereaved family and friend “May that kind of life be more frequently lived, so we may be saved from the violence and darkness that surrounds us.”

Her body was taken to JE Guides Funeral Home and Crematorium at San Fernando for cremation.