Margaret Anne Wieche

Margaret Anne Mackay Wieche passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of Friday, October 6, 2023 at the age of 92. She fought a courageous and short battle with stroke-related vascular dementia. Margaret was born on July 23, 1931 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was the third of four daughters born to Norman and Kathleen (Armstrong) Mackay. When Margaret was 6 years old, her father died unexpectedly and the family then moved to Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where Margaret attended school until graduating from Acadia University in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics. Margaret was chosen by Acadia University to attend an internship program in dietetics at New York Hospital, which she successfully completed in 1953. She loved to tell the story of how she packed her trunk, a naïve young woman from Wolfville, and boarded the train bound for New York City and new adventures. While studying in New York City, Margaret met Donald, a student at Cornell University Medical School who went on to build a career as a radiologist at Hartford Hospital in CT. They married in 1955. When Don was stationed in Korea from 1957 to 1959, Margaret independently made her own way to Japan and then to Korea to be with him. They later lived in New York, Farmington CT, Plymouth VT, Woodstock VT and Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia before moving to Bend, OR in 2018. They were married for 68 years and travelled the world together on ski trips and trips to visit family and friends in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia. Even though Margaret lived her adult life in the US, she was a true and loyal Canadian. Years ago she made arrangements for her remains, along with Donald’s, to be returned to Nova Scotia when the time came. Moving to New York City as a young woman sparked Margaret’s life-long interest in travel and adventure and cemented a life-long commitment to preparing healthy, delicious and nutritious meals for family and friends. Margaret was known for her cooking skills which she passed on to her children and grandchildren, including many favorite recipes from Nova Scotia. Her love for nutritious food included a keen interest in critiquing new restaurants and new foods whenever she had a chance. She always kept Donald supplied with homemade cookies, and she kept grandchildren supplied with “parkins,” oatmeal molasses cookies from a Nova Scotia recipe. She kept up her daily cooking until almost the very end, although when Donald retired in 1993, she announced that she was also retired and he would have to make his own breakfast and lunch from then on (which he did). Margaret was an independent thinker. She always tried to do the right thing and held herself to the highest standard. She was closely engaged in the political and social issues of the day and developed her own points of view. She loved writing letters to the editor and to her congressman (and also to the Director of Dining at her retirement community)! She had a strong moral core, informed by her Christian faith and reinforced by her tendency to question. She didn’t simply accept what authorities (including religious authorities) said, but always asked why. Every week she would declare she was going to get kicked out of bible study! She often said that she wanted her gravestone to read, “She almost always told the truth.” And she did. Margaret strove to make every community she lived in a better place. She took charitable giving very seriously and kept detailed lists of donations she made to local, national and international organizations. In Farmington, CT she was an active member of the First Church of Christ, Congregational. She volunteered many years of her time to successfully build Westerleigh, a residential community for low income, elderly housing. She volunteered for meals-on-wheels and for visiting the elderly. She established the Village Traders, a consignment shop to support her church. After moving to Bend, OR she continued to look for ways to improve her retirement community, and she successfully arranged for new signs to be installed near the elevators to help residents navigate. She devoted a lifetime to caring for her family and fully supported their many interests and activities. She especially loved spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandson and hearing about their lives and adventures. She was a devoted sister, always there to provide whatever support was needed, even when that meant taking the next flight to Halifax. In her later years, she loved taking trips to the Nova Scotia shore with her sisters Jean and Mary. They called themselves “the yak yak sisters.” She was a loving wife and companion to Donald and managed their household independently up until the last few months of her life. Margaret was strong, independent and adventurous. She was an accomplished skier for decades. While age eventually forced her off the slopes, she continued to walk (at a rapid pace) and exercise regularly. Throughout her life she maintained a level of fitness and resilience that amazed everyone (including the hospital nurses, who couldn’t believe she was in her 90s). As her grandchildren can attest, her biceps were legendary. Margaret was always keen on trying new things and learning new things. Like her sisters, she loved birds (especially hummingbirds), gardening, plants, flowers and cats. She loved finding treasures at auctions, yard sales and flea markets. She loved going to craft shows and supporting local artists. Margaret was often described by those who knew her as a “force.” She will be missed! But her essence will continue to live on in the strong children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who come after her. Margaret is survived by her husband Donald, her sister-in-law Wilma, her sons Eric and Kyle (Tara), her daughter Page (Kevin Lane), her grandchildren Kayla (Nick Kwiatek), Kate, Meg, Isabel, Sayloren and Kanyon, her great-grandson Henry, and numerous nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews. In addition to her parents, Margaret was preceded in death by her sisters and brothers-in-law Kay (Don MacLachlan), Jean (Lloyd Caldwell) and Mary (Fred Walsh) and her brother-in-law Robert Wieche. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Shepherd’s House (https://shepherdshouseministries.org/), the Bethlehem Inn (https://bethleheminn.org/), the Oregon Food Bank (https://www.oregonfoodbank.org/), or any shelter or food bank of choice. Please visit www.niswonger-reynolds.com to share photos and memories. A celebration of Margaret’s life will be held at a later date in Nova Scotia.

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Margaret Anne Wieche

July 23, 1931 - October 6, 2023