Mother ‘Macks’ hits 100 not out!

She reflects with great pride on her four boy children who all attended the Kingstown Preparatory School (KPS), and then went on to the St. Vincent Grammar School. Her firstborn Andrew, and third, Walford followed in her footsteps, teaching Physical Education and Sports subjects within the public system, as well as to teams and individuals. Joel, the second born has excelled in the fields of entertainment and service, first as a DJ and owner of the household music system Wax MASTERS International, and secondly as an established and accomplished electrician.

Cecil ‘Ces’, the last born, followed her life of service and dedicated 19 years of his life to the banking profession up to the managerial level, and 10 years as Parliamentary Representative of the constituency of West St.

George from 2010 to 2020, and currently serves as an Insurance Manager for 12 years and counting.

Her four boys have provided her with seven grandchildren- six boys and one girl, and to date, 10 great grandchildren, five boys and five girls.

McKie distinguished as an outstanding teacher with children and in the classroom. She commenced teaching at the same school where she started her primary education, the Wesley Hall School (Methodist School), and taught there for 10 years. She was then transferred to the Richmond Hill School where she spent a further nine years.

During this time, she got married to Clive McKie, an engineer at the Public Works Department, and moved from her family home at Richmond Hill to Arnos Vale. She then resigned after her nine years at the Richmond Hill Primary School. At that same time she was transferred to the Kingstown Preparatory School (KPS), but opted not to, and spent four years at home laying the educational foundation for her four children.

Seeing this virtual home schooling, the parents in the neighbourhood asked McKie if she could school their children as well, which she did during that fouryear period. Her then full school at home with one teacher- assistant, catered for pupils up to Grade Three. Even after she returned to the classroom Mc Kie continued offering evening classes at her home at Arnos Vale until she gave up the chalk and chalkboard around the year 2000.

To conclude this extraordinary illustrious teaching career, she decided to re-enter the service again when her children were all able to go into mainstream public school. Hearing of an opening at the same Kingstown Preparatory School to which she had been transferred just prior to her resignation, she applied and was successful at obtaining a position there.

However, the Teachers College having been recently opened, after only six months at the KPS, McKie applied and was successful to gain a place in batch three of the first entrants to the college. That one-year programme allowed her to become a qualified teacher.

After college McKie was sent to the Sion Hill Government School where she spent 13 years up to her retirement in 1979 at age 55 as Head Teacher. McKie taught generations in the same family, especially at the Sion Hill School. Many of her students went on to become outstanding citizens of SVG, as well as in their adopted homelands regionally and internationally.

Worthy of mention is her contribution to the religious realm. She was a Sunday School teacher at the Gospel Hall, and took over the running of the Gospel Bookstore in Kingstown when her husband died in 1981.

McKie believed that God has afforded her the strength to undertake and complete all the tasks given to her in life.

In 2007, upon the insistence of the then Parliamentary Representative, Mike Browne, the learning resource centre, in her home village of Upper Cane Hall, was named the Doris McKie Learning Resource Centre in her honour.

Her life is a testament to her belief that “God honours those who honour him”.