Marjorie Hadden passed away on the afternoon of August 7 2014 in a lean-to overlooking Indian lake, where she has rented cottages and vacationed with her family for 67 years, and where she rowed her beloved guideboat until last summer. She visited with family and dear friends on her porch for a week before departing. A most stunning quadruple rainbow followed on an otherwise lovely cool sunny day, arcing over her favorite point across the lake and down into the water.
Marjorie was born in Aledo IL on January 13, 1921, the only child of Clara Brown Harvey (1893 – 1986) of Aledo and Charles Harvey (1888 - ? ) of Macomb IL. She grew up with Cousin Richard Baldwin on the Brown family farm, located a mile east of town, and continued visiting her grandparents, “William J” and midwife Margaret Regina “Ginie” Snyder, after she moved with her family to Keithsburg IL. She next moved to Chicago with her mother, and eventually to Westfield NJ where she graduated from high school in 1939. New York City was a favorite weekend destination with her two best friends where they would marvel at the Queen Mary in port, the excitement of Times Square in the late 1930’s, and performances by favorite musicians like Frank Sinatra.
In 1944 Marjorie married Edward Hadden of Plainfield NJ, a mechanical engineer who worked at Gibbs and Cox shipbuilding in New York through WW2. Her dream was to have a home and family, perhaps reminiscent of life on the farm, which had been a central and welcoming gathering place to kin and their friends in the mid-west. Marjorie became a devoted and meticulous homemaker and mother to their children: Lee (Edward Leal Hadden, Jr.), born in 1946; Cathy Bjorkman in 1948; Janet Claire in 1952; and Susan Jayne in 1962. The Haddens arrived in Mechanicsburg in 1954. Grandchildren arrived while Marjorie was still a parent to a young Susan, forming a continuum of children and teenagers in and out of her hub of a home, which she claimed kept her youthful. Surviving, in addition to her own children, are the grandchildren in whose lives Marjorie was integral: Christi, Katie and Eric Hadden; Christopher Bjorkman and Stephanie Bjorkman Lynas; Kurt Shoemaker; William Wyper and Emerson Hadden-Wyper; and great-grandchildren Mathew, Luke and Emma Lynas; and Rowan Shoemaker; all of whom have paraded with her to Rakestraw’s for after dinner ice cream.
Upon arriving in Mechanicsburg, Marjorie was a member of the Women’s Club, then moved on to help establish the Mechanicsburg Area Meals-on-Wheels program, volunteering there and at Seidle Memorial Hospital. Marjorie rolled with the times and was always open to new ideas, perhaps inspired in part by her job at Book-of-the-Month where she had access to the 25c damaged books store treasures. Later she worked at Mechanicsburg stores: Miljon’s Gift shop / art and office supply, and Biddle’s dry goods store, holding hope for preservation of those downtown institutions in changing times; and Main Stationers.


Marjorie was a veritable “Little Engine that Could” (a favorite family children’s book that contained her mother’s mantra, “I think I can, I think I can”). Fiercely independent, and like the little engine, she quietly plowed through hardship and made the most of any situation, truly to her last day, and in spite of painful arthritis from chronic Lyme disease, and breast cancer in her last year. She was super capable of artistic and work endeavors of all kinds, and sewed household goods and her children’s exquisitely crafted clothes by hand, smocking and piping on her mother’s old Singer. Marjorie managed a well-run home until her passing; and her household finances with thrift and a check book that she balanced every month to the penny, in her head, then checked by hand, and maybe then a calculator. She loved adventure and spoke of the importance of soaking up opportunities as they arose, lest they pass leaving behind regret. She especially enjoyed traveling and seeing sites off the beaten path, much of it with her adult children: Hawaii, Italy, Bonaire N.A., and trips out west by train and car.
Marjorie’s love of nature was evident in her oasis of an enchanted and shady yard, the myriad indoor plants among a giant hunk of cedar driftwood, and rocks in bowls found by her or received as gifts from around the world. She was always curious and open: a keen listener and observer of detail. She loved reading and learning to her last days: exploring purpose, keeping up with current events and Facebook posts, and was ever the reliable family memory bank. She was a spiritual explorer centered in her own experience of God’s wonders via nature and listening to her higher guidance. She loved chocolate. And elephants.
Marjorie was a mother figure to many; her beautifully kept home and sofa were host to friends of all ages who appreciated her wise counsel, love of nature, festive Holiday celebrations, home cooked meals, humor, and of course the M&M’s in the buffet candy dish. She choreographed a large and wonderful family show and inspired many along the way. We will miss you Mom… Grandmom, Marjorie, Mom Hadden, Mugsie, Mummum.
The family asks that donations in Marjorie's memory, in lieu of flowers, go to:

The Boat Builder in Residence Program at the Adirondack Museum.
Please make checks payable to:
Adirondack Museum with "in memory of M. Hadden" in memo line.
and mail to:
PO Box 99
Blue Mt. Lake, NY 12812
or phone: 518 352 7311 x119.


or



Mechanicsburg Area Meal on Wheels
with "in memory of M. Hadden" in memo line.
Please mail to:
PO Box 1093
Mechanicsburg PA 17055.

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