Nadeene Marie MacKay

Nadeene Marie (Seher) MacKay was born October 12, 1938, in St. Louis, Missouri, and passed peacefully on February 12, 2025, in Portland, Oregon.

Nadeene grew up in St. Louis where she developed her love for animals and interest in anything related to the West – movies, Native American culture, horses, and wide-open spaces. She met Neil at a dude ranch and they later married and had five children together. As their family grew, they moved to New England and she raised her five kids in Canton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. She shared her love of the ocean with her kids with frequent beach trips in the summer.

She spent most of her adult life at home raising her children while honing her award winning baking skills (apple pie and black forest cake especially) and her gourmet-level cooking skills. As she tried new cuisines in restaurants, she would learn to cook them as well, from paella for Christmas dinner to the creole dishes that became family favorites for birthday dinners. She was known for the themed dinner parties she threw for neighbors, as well as for the dozen di erent Christmas cookies she baked every year to give as gifts. Special occasions were celebrated with delicious home-cooked meals and desserts. She pursued many artistic endeavors during these years as well: sewing, including her daughter’s prom dresses, embroidery, crocheting, drawing and painting classes, and furniture refinishing.

After her youngest was born, Nadeene went back to school to earn her Bachelor’s degree and then her Master’s degree in Social Work. She was very proud of her education and accomplishments, as her parents had not expected her to pursue higher education. After earning her MSW she worked with youth in juvenile detention and then at a program called Youth Build. She retired in 2003 and finally realized her dream to live out west when she moved to Sedona, Arizona.

Nadeene was known for her caring, generosity, and excellent hugs. She was a second mom to many of her children’s friends and created a home where everyone felt welcomed and loved and well-fed. Her choice to earn her MSW was actually sparked by her experience as a foster parent for a teenage friend of one of her children.

Her adventurous nature led to a love of travel throughout her life, and in addition to yearly family vacations around the U.S. and Canada (some of which involved whitewater rafting), she later traveled to Europe several times with family and enjoyed traveling with her cousin Dolores in their later years.

Nadeene always had a soft spot for animals and they seemed to know that she was a kind soul they could trust. Her “granddogs” always found a spot near her (or on top of her) to cuddle up. While her children were growing up, she took a course in caring for wildlife and raised rescued wild animal babies (including squirrels, bunnies, and raccoons) until they could be released back into the wild.

During her time in Sedona she made a few close friends, attended many talks to learn about local history and traditions, participated in a knitting and crocheting group, and joined the Sedona Westerners hiking club to have company hiking the many trails in the area. She also provided a “guest house” for family and friends of family who were visiting the area. When her two Arizona grandsons were young, she provided care for them several days a week. She continued to give back to the community by tutoring at a local elementary school, attending sibling camp in the Pacific Northwest as a volunteer camp counselor, and becoming a CASA (court-appointed special advocate). She loved the life she built for herself in Sedona and the many adventures she was able to have there. In 2022, she moved to Portland near two of her daughters, where she lived the remainder of her life.

Nadeene was preceded in death by her parents Peter and Gertrude Seher and her brother Peter Seher and his wife Charlene. She is survived by her children Coleen MacKay (Brian Nelson), Neil (Mary) MacKay, Kathy MacKay, Lin MacKay and Kelli MacKay (Gary Hyland), her brothers Kenneth (Michele) Seher and Timothy (Mary) Seher, her grandchildren Jerry Kopecky, Trevor MacKay, Cameron MacKay, Noah Hyland, and Gavin Hyland, and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.

A funeral mass will be held at the chapel at Mary’s Woods in Lake Oswego, OR, on Thursday February 27th at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to Friends of Hopewell House (where she spent her last few days) at www.hopewellhousepdx.org/give, or to Kindred Matters (which runs the sibling camp in Oregon where she volunteered for several years) at https://www.kindredmatters.org/donate-to-kindred-matters.  

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