Linda Joyce MacRae's Obituary
Linda Joyce MacRae was a teacher by vocation, choosing to dedicate the full of her life to helping students succeed, from learning to read in the earliest years to funding their studies in graduate school. She died following a brief hospital stay at age 78 on Sunday, January 8, 2023.
She was born to Warren and Ruth Hubley MacRae on June 18, 1944 in Waltham, Massachusetts. The second of seven siblings, early in life she assumed responsibility for those younger than she, putting in place her life trajectory. After graduating from high school she attended the University of Massachusetts, where she received a bachelor’s degree and credentials for teaching.
After teaching in early elementary grades for a few years in Massachusetts she relocated to a residential program at Huehue Academy in the northwest corner of Guatemala. For the next 27 years she taught a combined class for 3rd and 4th graders, adding to this responsibilities for organizing and supervising afterschool activities including Cub Scout den mother, occasional dietician, mentoring students to excel at reading, and eventually as junior high dorm mother.
Subsequently she served for 19 years as scholarship program coordinator at SETECA, a Spanish language graduate seminary for men and women from across the Americas, located in Guatemala City. Her students, 1200 in number, came from 25 countries, completing a variety of programs extending from certificate work for church pastoral service through doctoral programs for leadership in theological education.
Upon retirement she relocated in 2016 to the Bradenton Missionary Village where she was an active resident until her death.
Her life of teaching and service, along with her love of many, will be celebrated in a memorial service at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, January 13, on the campus of il Villaggio in Bradenton, Florida.
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