Born Alexandrina "Ena" MacKenzie in Ross-Shire, Scotland to John and Margaret "Maggie" Mackenzie, this little girl played on the shorelines of Lechmelm and Ullapool on Loch Broom. She had many playmates - her parents had 12 children - six boys and six girls. After leaving their residence in Lechmelm where the first ten children were born, they lived at Altna Harrie (aka the Ferry House), on Loch Broom. At that time, it was a remote location where life was hard and their home was accessible by only a brave few. Her strict father was a "fireman" (aka Chief Engineer) with the Merchant Marine and was oft away from the family. When he did return, the large family would celebrate by dancing reels, singing and listening to their father play his accordian. Her poor mother, who prior to the marriage was a dairymaid - well, she spent much of her adult life pregnant!
Life on the rocky shores of Scotland was tough and Ena, while still a very young lass, decided to follow her older sisters, Katherine and Mary, and brothers William "Bill" and John "Jack" MacKenzie, to North America. While her ultimate destination was the United States, immigration quotas and rules required this brave young teenager to travel alone into a world she could barely imagine existed. Her first stop was in Toronto, Canada, where she worked both as a baker and a nanny.
Ultimately, she, who then called herself "Enid," made her way to Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, where she was enthralled with all the busy activity a big city had to offer, including glittering merchandise, dance halls, jobs, dark haired men willing to spend their hard earned dollars on young lasses, and opportunity. She attended Detroit's Northern High School. She loved attending dances, often inviting several young men to be her date to the same dance!
In the early 1920s, she met her darling, curly haired husband to be, Kenneth Campbell, (the son of Donald Murdo "Melavi" Campbell and his wife, Catherine Donelda Nicholson), who walked to Detroit from his home in Scotstown, Quebec, Canada, in search of employment.
Kenneth and Enid married and had two children who survived into adulthood, Catherine "Shirley" Robinson (m. Reginald R. Robinson) and Kenneth Campbell (m. Anna May Czapp). Enid and her husband worked hard to establish their new lifes in the land of opportunity, experiencing hardships the likes of which are hard to imagine now.
Enid was a ball of energy. She was truly a woman ahead of her time, exercising endlessly (many times with Jack LaLaine), and growing and cooking or preparing healthy foods like carrot juice, parsley salads. Her kitchen always had green peppers, cucumbers and rhubarb from their urban garden, shortbread, teabags and brown rice. If you were lucky, you were at her house when she had baked AND used sugar (never refined!). The shortbread. The blueberry muffins or blueberry pancakes. Her rice or bread pudding. Her rhubarb crumble with a wee bit of cream. Her warm cookies placed in the tins next to her good china. Her only crutch appeared to young eyes to be butter pecan ice cream.
Despite having left Scotland, Enid loved the sound of the bag pipes and the sight of the highland dancers - especially when her granddaughters were dancing in their kilts.
Enid never, never, never told people - including her own children - her real age. She insisted that it not be placed on her grave marker. You would never be able to guess her real age if you spent a day with her, though. At what we all thought was age 76, Enid bought herself a new Chevy Camaro and tooled around town. She played a mean game of kickball with her eight grandchildren in her backyard well into her eighties. Further, she could walk a mile quicker than it took her grandchildren to grab a cookie from the tins.
She had an unwavering eye for her husband - and for beautiful, artistic decors and accessories. A long necked green glass goose from the china department at Hudson's Department Store that she saved for and saved for. Handsome china plates and silverware. Silver salt and pepper shakers. Crystal lamps, with sparkling icicles irresistible to small hands. Paintings with young lasses holding their dollies or framed photographs of adored grandchildren.
While her healthy heart lived on for many years, her brain struggled mightily with Alzheimer's Disease in her later years, robbing her, her children and adoring grandchildren of the fun, energy and vitality she was known for.
Ah, she was a gem with many sparkling facets.
Life on the rocky shores of Scotland was tough and Ena, while still a very young lass, decided to follow her older sisters, Katherine and Mary, and brothers William "Bill" and John "Jack" MacKenzie, to North America. While her ultimate destination was the United States, immigration quotas and rules required this brave young teenager to travel alone into a world she could barely imagine existed. Her first stop was in Toronto, Canada, where she worked both as a baker and a nanny.
Ultimately, she, who then called herself "Enid," made her way to Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, where she was enthralled with all the busy activity a big city had to offer, including glittering merchandise, dance halls, jobs, dark haired men willing to spend their hard earned dollars on young lasses, and opportunity. She attended Detroit's Northern High School. She loved attending dances, often inviting several young men to be her date to the same dance!
In the early 1920s, she met her darling, curly haired husband to be, Kenneth Campbell, (the son of Donald Murdo "Melavi" Campbell and his wife, Catherine Donelda Nicholson), who walked to Detroit from his home in Scotstown, Quebec, Canada, in search of employment.
Kenneth and Enid married and had two children who survived into adulthood, Catherine "Shirley" Robinson (m. Reginald R. Robinson) and Kenneth Campbell (m. Anna May Czapp). Enid and her husband worked hard to establish their new lifes in the land of opportunity, experiencing hardships the likes of which are hard to imagine now.
Enid was a ball of energy. She was truly a woman ahead of her time, exercising endlessly (many times with Jack LaLaine), and growing and cooking or preparing healthy foods like carrot juice, parsley salads. Her kitchen always had green peppers, cucumbers and rhubarb from their urban garden, shortbread, teabags and brown rice. If you were lucky, you were at her house when she had baked AND used sugar (never refined!). The shortbread. The blueberry muffins or blueberry pancakes. Her rice or bread pudding. Her rhubarb crumble with a wee bit of cream. Her warm cookies placed in the tins next to her good china. Her only crutch appeared to young eyes to be butter pecan ice cream.
Despite having left Scotland, Enid loved the sound of the bag pipes and the sight of the highland dancers - especially when her granddaughters were dancing in their kilts.
Enid never, never, never told people - including her own children - her real age. She insisted that it not be placed on her grave marker. You would never be able to guess her real age if you spent a day with her, though. At what we all thought was age 76, Enid bought herself a new Chevy Camaro and tooled around town. She played a mean game of kickball with her eight grandchildren in her backyard well into her eighties. Further, she could walk a mile quicker than it took her grandchildren to grab a cookie from the tins.
She had an unwavering eye for her husband - and for beautiful, artistic decors and accessories. A long necked green glass goose from the china department at Hudson's Department Store that she saved for and saved for. Handsome china plates and silverware. Silver salt and pepper shakers. Crystal lamps, with sparkling icicles irresistible to small hands. Paintings with young lasses holding their dollies or framed photographs of adored grandchildren.
While her healthy heart lived on for many years, her brain struggled mightily with Alzheimer's Disease in her later years, robbing her, her children and adoring grandchildren of the fun, energy and vitality she was known for.
Ah, she was a gem with many sparkling facets.
Born Alexandrina "Ena" MacKenzie in Ross-Shire, Scotland to John and Margaret "Maggie" Mackenzie, this little girl played on the shorelines of Lechmelm and Ullapool on Loch Broom. She had many playmates - her parents had 12 children - six boys and six girls. After leaving their residence in Lechmelm where the first ten children were born, they lived at Altna Harrie (aka the Ferry House), on Loch Broom. At that time, it was a remote location where life was hard and their home was accessible by only a brave few. Her strict father was a "fireman" (aka Chief Engineer) with the Merchant Marine and was oft away from the family. When he did return, the large family would celebrate by dancing reels, singing and listening to their father play his accordian. Her poor mother, who prior to the marriage was a dairymaid - well, she spent much of her adult life pregnant!
Life on the rocky shores of Scotland was tough and Ena, while still a very young lass, decided to follow her older sisters, Katherine and Mary, and brothers William "Bill" and John "Jack" MacKenzie, to North America. While her ultimate destination was the United States, immigration quotas and rules required this brave young teenager to travel alone into a world she could barely imagine existed. Her first stop was in Toronto, Canada, where she worked both as a baker and a nanny.
Ultimately, she, who then called herself "Enid," made her way to Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, where she was enthralled with all the busy activity a big city had to offer, including glittering merchandise, dance halls, jobs, dark haired men willing to spend their hard earned dollars on young lasses, and opportunity. She attended Detroit's Northern High School. She loved attending dances, often inviting several young men to be her date to the same dance!
In the early 1920s, she met her darling, curly haired husband to be, Kenneth Campbell, (the son of Donald Murdo "Melavi" Campbell and his wife, Catherine Donelda Nicholson), who walked to Detroit from his home in Scotstown, Quebec, Canada, in search of employment.
Kenneth and Enid married and had two children who survived into adulthood, Catherine "Shirley" Robinson (m. Reginald R. Robinson) and Kenneth Campbell (m. Anna May Czapp). Enid and her husband worked hard to establish their new lifes in the land of opportunity, experiencing hardships the likes of which are hard to imagine now.
Enid was a ball of energy. She was truly a woman ahead of her time, exercising endlessly (many times with Jack LaLaine), and growing and cooking or preparing healthy foods like carrot juice, parsley salads. Her kitchen always had green peppers, cucumbers and rhubarb from their urban garden, shortbread, teabags and brown rice. If you were lucky, you were at her house when she had baked AND used sugar (never refined!). The shortbread. The blueberry muffins or blueberry pancakes. Her rice or bread pudding. Her rhubarb crumble with a wee bit of cream. Her warm cookies placed in the tins next to her good china. Her only crutch appeared to young eyes to be butter pecan ice cream.
Despite having left Scotland, Enid loved the sound of the bag pipes and the sight of the highland dancers - especially when her granddaughters were dancing in their kilts.
Enid never, never, never told people - including her own children - her real age. She insisted that it not be placed on her grave marker. You would never be able to guess her real age if you spent a day with her, though. At what we all thought was age 76, Enid bought herself a new Chevy Camaro and tooled around town. She played a mean game of kickball with her eight grandchildren in her backyard well into her eighties. Further, she could walk a mile quicker than it took her grandchildren to grab a cookie from the tins.
She had an unwavering eye for her husband - and for beautiful, artistic decors and accessories. A long necked green glass goose from the china department at Hudson's Department Store that she saved for and saved for. Handsome china plates and silverware. Silver salt and pepper shakers. Crystal lamps, with sparkling icicles irresistible to small hands. Paintings with young lasses holding their dollies or framed photographs of adored grandchildren.
While her healthy heart lived on for many years, her brain struggled mightily with Alzheimer's Disease in her later years, robbing her, her children and adoring grandchildren of the fun, energy and vitality she was known for.
Ah, she was a gem with many sparkling facets.
Life on the rocky shores of Scotland was tough and Ena, while still a very young lass, decided to follow her older sisters, Katherine and Mary, and brothers William "Bill" and John "Jack" MacKenzie, to North America. While her ultimate destination was the United States, immigration quotas and rules required this brave young teenager to travel alone into a world she could barely imagine existed. Her first stop was in Toronto, Canada, where she worked both as a baker and a nanny.
Ultimately, she, who then called herself "Enid," made her way to Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, where she was enthralled with all the busy activity a big city had to offer, including glittering merchandise, dance halls, jobs, dark haired men willing to spend their hard earned dollars on young lasses, and opportunity. She attended Detroit's Northern High School. She loved attending dances, often inviting several young men to be her date to the same dance!
In the early 1920s, she met her darling, curly haired husband to be, Kenneth Campbell, (the son of Donald Murdo "Melavi" Campbell and his wife, Catherine Donelda Nicholson), who walked to Detroit from his home in Scotstown, Quebec, Canada, in search of employment.
Kenneth and Enid married and had two children who survived into adulthood, Catherine "Shirley" Robinson (m. Reginald R. Robinson) and Kenneth Campbell (m. Anna May Czapp). Enid and her husband worked hard to establish their new lifes in the land of opportunity, experiencing hardships the likes of which are hard to imagine now.
Enid was a ball of energy. She was truly a woman ahead of her time, exercising endlessly (many times with Jack LaLaine), and growing and cooking or preparing healthy foods like carrot juice, parsley salads. Her kitchen always had green peppers, cucumbers and rhubarb from their urban garden, shortbread, teabags and brown rice. If you were lucky, you were at her house when she had baked AND used sugar (never refined!). The shortbread. The blueberry muffins or blueberry pancakes. Her rice or bread pudding. Her rhubarb crumble with a wee bit of cream. Her warm cookies placed in the tins next to her good china. Her only crutch appeared to young eyes to be butter pecan ice cream.
Despite having left Scotland, Enid loved the sound of the bag pipes and the sight of the highland dancers - especially when her granddaughters were dancing in their kilts.
Enid never, never, never told people - including her own children - her real age. She insisted that it not be placed on her grave marker. You would never be able to guess her real age if you spent a day with her, though. At what we all thought was age 76, Enid bought herself a new Chevy Camaro and tooled around town. She played a mean game of kickball with her eight grandchildren in her backyard well into her eighties. Further, she could walk a mile quicker than it took her grandchildren to grab a cookie from the tins.
She had an unwavering eye for her husband - and for beautiful, artistic decors and accessories. A long necked green glass goose from the china department at Hudson's Department Store that she saved for and saved for. Handsome china plates and silverware. Silver salt and pepper shakers. Crystal lamps, with sparkling icicles irresistible to small hands. Paintings with young lasses holding their dollies or framed photographs of adored grandchildren.
While her healthy heart lived on for many years, her brain struggled mightily with Alzheimer's Disease in her later years, robbing her, her children and adoring grandchildren of the fun, energy and vitality she was known for.
Ah, she was a gem with many sparkling facets.
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