Mary Thelen Miller Soot passed away peacefully on September 3, 2019 at the age of 77 years.

A pillar of this community, Mary was born in Portland on April 19, 1942. She had a go-getter attitude that recognized few limits, and her creative stamp is on everything she touched. There was hardly a task that Mary wouldn’t tackle on her own, and she accomplished every one of them with aplomb and panache – albeit her reflection often resulted in a glib, “…not up to my usual!” She had the ability to create the extraordinary, yet she was equally able to find beauty in the simplest of things. She was a masterful chef and an exquisite seamstress. She was an avid reader and a collector of words. She was a writer and an artist and a confidant. At the core of all that Mary held dear, however, was her family. Mary’s life as a wife and a mother was at the heart of her identity. She treasured her children and embraced every moment with them, and she especially loved her role as Gramma. In all that she did, Mary was passionate and tenacious and fiercely independent – all qualities that echo in the lives of the loved ones she has touched. She will be dearly missed and forever in our hearts.

She is survived by Ilmar Soot, her husband of 52 years; her two children and their spouses, Scott and Laurel Soot and Adrienne and Paul DeMichele; brother, Scott Miller; sister, Martha Skoczlas; and three grandchildren, Kimberly Soot, Nicholas Soot, and Claire DeMichele.

A vigil service will be held on Wednesday, September 11 at 7:00pm followed by a funeral service on Thursday, September 12 at 11:00am at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, 2210 SW Dolph Ct., Portland, OR. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice or to St. Nicholas Orthodox Church.