The City of Springfield honors Alvin J. McKenzie with an honorary street naming
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)- The Springfield Community came together on Tuesday to recognize Alvin J. McKenzie on what would have been his 91st birthday with an honorary street naming.
Alvin J. Mckenzie was an orphan born on April 8, 1936. He was all about using education to change lives and improve communities.
'Back home, we had to read, as soon as we got out of school. One of the things that he did, I used to watch was mentor in his community. He has an affiliation with building stuff, making things better no matter where he went,' said Maria Parkinson Mckenzie, oldest daughter of Alvin J. Mckenzie.
At the age of 39, he followed his family to Massachusetts, without letting his circumstances define his future.
When Alvin McKenzie immigrated to Springfield from Jamaica in 1976, he raised his family on Colonial Avenue before settling in a home on Marlborough Street.
'Never went to school, you know learn and read from his friends coming home from school and he came to this country and got an associate degree and a bachelor degree,' said Junior Mckenzie, Son of Alvin J. Mckenzie.
While Alvin started from scratch, he quickly became a product of Springfield College after graduating in 1992.
He died in 2007 after a five-year battle with prostate cancer.
'Even though as much as my dad was educated, there are just certain things that are in him culturally that we couldn't change. I mean he could've had the surgery, he probably would've still been living,' said Maria Parkinson Mckenzie.
Alvin was a mentor, a police officer, and a security guard who showed everyone that no matter where you start, you can achieve the American Dream.
In his memory, his family began a scholarship fund at Springfield College in 2023, to benefit other minority students. They plan to extend this endowment to other local colleges soon.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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