Mary B. Ekberg, fondly referred to as Maisie by her late husband Walt, passed away in peace on Jan. 26 in Portland, Ore., after fulfilling a life full of grit and grace.
Mary was wife to her college sweetheart, best friend, and love of her life, Walt, for 64 wonderful years. She was a loving Mom to her son, Jim Ekberg; and daughters, Jo Anne Lewis and Jan Brown. She was grandma to Geoff, Doug, Jenny, Nikki, Ian, David, and Sarah; and great-grandmother to Zachary, Henry, Elizabeth, Lily, Joshua, Seth, and Allison.
Mary was raised in Lansing, Mich. where she later met her husband Walt while attending MSU. She was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority and Tower Guard.
Together they lived many years in Birmingham, Mich., where Mary was very active in the Christian Science Church.
Mary was a very talented. She was a great cook, worked in many challenging careers, was active in the schools, and even won Homemaker of the Year in 1963. She also fulfilled a life-long dream of becoming a writer, and had many articles published.
She loved to entertain and had a real sense of style when it came to fashion and decorating. She always looked put together and her homes were warm and cozy, reflecting her love of blue and white and antiques.
Mary cared about people. She had wonderful friends and offered a kind heart, companionship, and support to those in need. She once raised money for charities by selling tins of homemade candied walnuts.
Mary and Walt loved the East Coast and in 1983 moved to Newcastle, where they ran a small gift shop out of their charming 1800’s home called The Maine Sale. They fell in love with Maine and stayed there happily for 22 years.
Mary was active in the Christian Science Church of Damariscotta, and later became a practitioner. In April 2005 they moved to Portland, Ore. to be near their son Jim, who lovingly cared for them.
In addition to being a loving wife and mother, Mary possessed great qualities such as loyalty, honesty, integrity, purity, and grace. She also made a mean blueberry pie.
She left us with wonderful memories and will truly be missed.
A service is not planned, as she and Walt, who passed away last year, did not want one. But this summer, as they wished, the ashes of Mary and Walt, together again, will rejoin the sea on a slack tide at the Damariscotta River Bridge in Maine, just down the street from their Maine Shangri-La.
