Meet Your Doctors: Dr. Edward D. McKenzie

Note: This is the 15th story in a series about doctors in our community.

Dr. Edward D. McKenzie, D.C., 66, has 46 years of experience as a doctor of chiropractic. He and his wife, Cathy, operate Holton Chiropractic Center at 928 W. 6th St. in Holton.

Originally from the Kansas City area, Dr. McKenzie received a doctor of chiropractic from Cleveland Chiropractic College of Kansas City in 1969.  

“My father and my uncle, who were both chiropractors, inspired me to become a doctor,” McKenzie said. “As a child, I was able to attend chiropractic functions with my parents and was able to meet the developer of chiropractic, B.J. Palmer. Palmer was also the son of Daniel David Palmer, who was the founder of chiropractic. My ultimate decision to become a chiropractor was after I wrote a paper on chiropractic in school.”

Dr. McKenzie has worked in the local community for 39 years.

“Holton is an active, friendly community that exhibits the best in a small town atmosphere with events such as the annual Jackson County 4-H Fair, Glory Days and Jazz on the Square,” he said. 

He is the past president and past director for the Kansas Chiropractic Association, a member of the Cleveland University Board of Trustees, secretary for the Association for the History of Chiropractic, past Kansas state delegate to the American Chiropractic Association and a member of the International Chiropractors Association. 

“I think my best advice regarding health and the prevention of disease is summed up by a quote attributed to Thomas Edison, ‘The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human body, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease,’” he said. 

In 1994, Dr. McKenzie was voted “Doctor of the Year” by the Kansas Chiropractic Association, and in 2004, he was named “Alternate Delegate of the Year” by the American Chiropractic Association. 

He recently completed his second year as a visiting clinician at the Madrid Chiropractic College in the Real Centro Universitario in San Lorenzo del Escorial in Spain. The campus is located in a monastery built by King Philip II in 1584.

“While there, I supervised the fifth-year student doctors in their outpatient clinic,” he said. “I found the experience to be very educational for me and hopefully for the students.”

He met students from Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Germany and Panama. This month he will meet with chiropractors in Puerto Rico at the annual meeting of the Association for the History of Chiropractic.

“As you can probably guess by now, I am deeply in love with my profession and my hope is for more people to discover chiropractic and its potential health benefits,” he said. 

Dr. McKenzie and Cathy have been married for 43 years. They have one daughter, Angela Hare, and her husband, Mike, and their two children, Taylor and Mason. 

In his free time, Dr. McKenzie enjoys golfing and fishing. He has an African grey parrot named Livingston and two cats, Putter and Inky.