Martin "Marty" Wade Macey  February 9, 1953 - August 6, 2021

Martin “Marty” Macey passed away on August 6th 2021.  He was born to Walt and Mary Macey on February 9th 1953 to parents who loved him with the entirety of their souls.  He had a childhood filled with adoration and too many adventures to list here.  He went on to live a life that repeated those same ideals.

He was a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a friend, a foe and an overall beautiful and complex human being.

There are many lessons that can be gleaned from the life of our beloved.

He taught us to love ridiculously and to never hold back praise.  He spoke freely with kind words.  He left love notes with smiley faces.  He wrote letters and signed them with X’s and O’s.  He put effort into his gestures and loved with all his heart.  His letters, voice messages and any correspondence, if you were lucky enough to get one, made you feel like you were his favorite.

He was unapologetically goofy.  He understood the power and importance of levity and comedy.  He knew that both were key to surviving the worst this world has to offer.  Marty was a legend in humor.  He was quick and clever and made everything more fun.  “A fart Joke a day will not keep the doctor away but it sure as hell will make your life a lot funnier.” (That is an exact quote from Marty himself.)

He believed that magic and whimsy are vital.  Over the entirety of his life he never lost the ability to create both for his loved ones and for himself.  He was passionate and lived with excitement.  He was the best storyteller there was.  He could read the instructions off the back of a Mac & Cheese box and make it sound like the greatest adventure ever told.

He made it a point in his life to take time to marvel at the world around him.  He found joy in the heartbeat of nature.  A beautiful sunrise, a summer storm, a bird making a nest, a dragonfly in his line of vision, he needed no more than this to find himself in awe and wonder.  The natural world was his greatest refueling.

He was a lover of music and was a talented musician himself.  If there was a piano or guitar in proximity, you could find him there playing pieces that could move anyone to tears, many he had written himself.  He often could be found listening to his favorite music in the solitude of the early morning hours next to the pond he made himself in his backyard.  It was a refuge for him from the turmoil of the world.  He was also a very talented drummer and would drum on the dashboard of any vehicle he owned until it cracked.  Music was his everything.

He experienced many hardships in his life.  There were many moments that broke his heart and brought him to his knees, still, he managed to stay optimistic through it all.  He tried to make all in his path happy, many times at his own expense.  With age and with the wisdom that comes along with years, he realized that perfectionism and being bulletproof have zero to do with the human experience.  He was learning to show himself the grace and forgiveness that he so easily offered to others throughout his life.  He came to understand that shame has no place in a happy and productive life.  He taught in spades that we are not the sum of our mistakes and that all along he was more than enough.  The greatest thing we can achieve is to realize our worthiness was and never is on the table as something that can be taken away and I have no doubt that he knew this in his final moments.  We are all so proud of him.

He loved his wife Kerri to the depths of his soul.  It was a love like no other.  He loved his kids and many grandkids.  Jessica Macey-Lynn, Kassie Howell, Kristyn Macey and Brielle Macey will cherish the days they had with their Dad and feel so lucky to be his daughters.  He was the most magical dad.  Marty loved Kerri’s children, Tyson Ellis, Juston Ellis and Kristen Ellis like his own.  We know that he cherished the years he got to have with them.  He joined his sweet parents and brother Randy in a celebration on the other side.  He leaves behind his brother (Ken Macey) and sisters Pam Gardiner and Mary Duncan whom he loved mightily and respected deeply.