R. Tait Mc Kenzie - Legacy

Legacy

R. Tait McKenzie's influence was so strong in the fields of physical education, medicine, the arts, and the military that hundreds of individuals expressed sadness and felt personal loss in his passing. These emotions were demonstrated by the condolences sent to his widow, Ethel. He was a prominent Canadian and modern Renaissance man whose international renown stemmed from his passion for physical health, which was incorporated into all of his various talents. Although he enrolled at McGill University with the intent on pursuing a medical career, it was his many other varied endeavours that led to his identification as a remarkable Canadian. His time at McGill saw him pioneering physical fitness programs in Canada. During the war, his methods and inventions that helped restore and rehabilitate those injured by war have since provided a sound basis for the development of modern physiotherapy practices. He created over two hundred works of art seen around the world today, and even the old gristmill he had lovingly restored, is itself representative of his spirit and a fitting memorial to McKenzie.

A collection of his work can be seen at his former residence, the Mill of Kintail, also known as the R. Tait McKenzie Memorial Museum at the Mississippi Mills Conservation Area in Almonte, Ontario.

The Joseph B. Wolffe Collection of R. Tait McKenzie Sculpture of Athletes is housed on the campus of the University of Tennessee.

Near the end of his life, McKenzie expressed a wish that following his death his heart be buried in front of the Scottish-American War Memorial that he had created in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this request was denied by the "corporation of that city", but his heart was subsequently buried at the nearby St. Cuthbert churchyard. An elementary school in Almonte, Ontario was named after him in 1998.

Tait McKenzie Centre is a sports facility named after him at York University in Toronto, Canada.