Obituary: Marjorie Noel Keeley
Marjorie Noel Keeley, a Portland woman whose remarkable life spanned a century of change and who was known for her boundless energy, creative talents, and deep devotion to family and faith, died on August 25, 2026. She was 103 years old.
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1923, Marjorie was the daughter of James Patrick and Lillian Dorothea (Kenney) McLaughlin. She graduated from Bishop McDonnell High School in 1939 and completed additional studies at Grace Institute the following year, soon after joining W.R. Grace & Co.
In 1943, Marjorie answered the call to service and enlisted in the United States Navy WAVES program. She attended Air Traffic Control School in Atlanta before being assigned to the Brunswick Naval Air Station in Maine, becoming one of just four women in the first group of WAVES to arrive at the base. The women faced curiosity and skepticism, but quickly demonstrated their competence and earned respect. It was at Brunswick that Marjorie met Joseph "Joe" Keeley, another air traffic controller. They married in 1946 following her discharge and settled in Joe's hometown of Portland.
The couple purchased land in Portland's North Deering neighborhood, next door to Joe's parents. With help from friends, family, and a few professionals, they built their first house themselves. Joe possessed a natural talent for construction and approached the ambitious project with determination. Marjorie contributed her own creativity to their new home, sewing silk draperies from surplus parachutes and transforming Joe's wooden mustering out trunk into a coffee table. As their family grew, they constructed a larger house on an adjacent parcel. They also welcomed Marjorie's widowed mother into their home, and three generations lived together for three decades.
Marjorie's own childhood had included summers spent in upstate New York and New England. Her mother had subscribed to the Farm Journal, through which she found affordable rural rentals that allowed her seven children to escape the city and enjoy the countryside during the Great Depression. These happy memories inspired Marjorie and Joe to purchase a small camp on Watchic Lake in Standish in 1957, where they continued the tradition of simple living close to nature each summer. Marjorie spent her days there picking berries, baking pies, and swimming almost daily.
Faith and family were the cornerstones of Marjorie's life. She was deeply involved in the St. Joseph's Church community in Portland, first as a parent whose five children attended the parish school, and later as a bookkeeper for the church and a member of its Sodality. Marjorie and her husband sponsored an extended Vietnamese refugee family, helping them navigate daily life in their new country and providing emotional support. The connection endured until Marjorie's death.
At age 87, Marjorie began volunteering one day a week at the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in Portland. She found inspiration in her fellow volunteers and the guests they served.
Marjorie mastered numerous domestic arts, some born of necessity and others as expressions of creativity. She sewed her own draperies and slipcovers, knitted, did needlework, and later took up rug hooking. She scoured thrift shops for wool to transform into original rug designs and approached holiday decorating with enthusiasm. Each year, she organized an elaborate Easter Egg hunt for her adult children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, shopping year-round for prizes. The event eventually featured more than a hundred prizes, though Marjorie always emphasized that the hunt was about laughter and togetherness rather than the gifts themselves.
A lifelong learner and patron of libraries, Marjorie remained engaged with literature even after she could no longer read printed books, finding sustenance in the Maine State Library's Talking Books program. She enjoyed attending the Portland Symphony with her daughter-in-law as a special outing. She played the piano, filling her home with music, and she and Joe were lifelong dance partners who moved gracefully across the floor.
Marjorie was an accomplished cook who, into her 90s, could prepare a turkey dinner for 25 people. She produced many family feasts on short notice from her small camp kitchen, serving them at picnic tables by the lake. At both the camp and at the family dining room table, a meal was never complete until a game had been played. Every family member, regardless of age, was welcome to participate, and Marjorie encouraged friendly competition while requiring good sportsmanship.
She remained physically active throughout her life, hiking, swimming, gardening, and for many years walking the three-mile round trip to daily Mass. She was frequently seen walking through her neighborhood with her lifelong friend, Hazel Karatsanos.
Marjorie cultivated unique and engaged relationships with each of her children and grandchildren, tailoring interactions to their individual interests and abilities. She considered motherhood the most important occupation a woman could have. She initiated a creative writing project with her grandchildren, collaborating with each child to contribute chapters to a serialized story that she typed and circulated among the family for years.
After 74 years of marriage, Joe died in 2020. Marjorie's children ensured she could remain in the home they had built together, surrounded by happy reminders of their life. She continued to live there until her death.
Marjorie is survived by five children: Jane Dascanio and her husband Peter of Portland, Virginia Bergson and her husband Robert of Georgetown, Massachusetts, Loretta Tracy and her husband Brent of Elk Grove, California, Irene Keeley and her husband Charles Chalko of Hingham, Massachusetts, and Patrick Keeley and his wife Catherine of Portland. She also leaves seven grandchildren: Anthony Dascanio, Maura Eaves, Meghan Ellsworth, Emily Garrett, Brendan Bergson, and Margaret Cataldo; and ten great-grandchildren: Hannah and Nichole Dascanio, Bryan Eaves, Charlotte Ellsworth, Claire, Charles, and Bridget Garrett, Grace, Noah and Jack Bergson, and Finn Cataldo. Many nieces and nephews also survive her.
She was predeceased by her husband Joe, their infant son Joseph Keeley, granddaughter Lillian Chalko, and six siblings: Katherine Hornby, Marie McLaughlin, Winifred Desfosse, Joseph McLaughlin, Richard McLaughlin, and Regina Marsh.
Visiting hours will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Monday, August 31, at Jones, Rich & Barnes Funeral Home, 199 Woodford Street, Portland. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 1, at St. Joseph's Church, 673 Stevens Avenue, Portland. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, where she will be laid to rest beside her husband. A reception will be held following the burial service.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Sisters of Life, 38 Montebello Road, Suffern, New York 10901, or to the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen, 307 Congress Street, Portland, Maine 04101, organizations that reflected Marjorie's lifelong commitments to the vulnerable and those in need.
