Dedicated to the memory of Marjorie Kehe
This site is a tribute to Marjorie Kehe. She was a radiant light in our lives, a cherished wife, daughter, cousin, aunt, niece, sister-in-law, stepmom, and Jojo to two adoring grandsons. She was a respected and well-loved co-worker, avid book and theatre monger, a lover of animals, and all things Italian. And the world’s biggest Yankees fan (next to her mom). Marjorie is unforgettable. So let’s not! Here’s a place to post stories, anecdotes, mashnotes, photos, or other Marjorie memories - as many as you want. Then come back often to add or see what’s new.
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Thoughts
Marjorie and I gleefully packed our bags and traveled with great enthusiasm every year of our marriage. It was the greatest privilege to have a traveling companion so savvy and open-minded (and palatted), so relaxed and up for it! She had traveled extensively for food industry magazine reporting, and later in her education reporting gig for the CS Monitor, before we met. And her contagious enthusiasm and curiosity for pet pursuits like reading, theatre, food, trains, art, and yes - TRAVEL, converted me instantaneously. So off we went on a honeymoon to Paris and Prague over Christmas and New Years to cap off 2003 (thanks to the generosity of her mom Marge). Then a swing out west from Santa Fe to Santa Monica, with vast canyons and painted cliffs and coast roads and hairpin turns and In and Out Burgers and savory Mexican treats all along the route. That trip was also Marjorie’s first opportunity to meet my mom, which is such a precious memory. Mom was is the throes of Parkinson’s disease and was generally unable to recognize even family members at the time. But when I walked in with Marjorie, mom threw her harms open wide and said “Oh my dear, I am so pleased to meet you! You are making Johnny so happy!” And each time we visited, she perked up the same way. It meant so much to us. 💕 More travel soon followed in 2005, like a Midwest nostalgia tour that included my suburban Chicago home (1952- 1969) and the mandatory visit to mecca - the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. (M bravely sported her Yankees cap - the only hat she EVER wore unless it was below freezing out). We had a delicious and musically rich time in New Orleans just months before Katrina. Our at-home cooking prowess went up a notch after that trip. Anyone who came over for dinner over the net several years was served my Big Easy Voodoo Shrimp 🔥. Mexico City in 2006 was a crazy-quilt of eye-popping color and memorable sights and sounds. Marjorie insisted on visiting Trotsky’s hideout house on the outskirts of the city (Who thinks of that? She did!) and the walk out there was the greatest show of creative graffitti imaginable. Serendipity must spring from great knowledge and curiosity. At least that was my recurring experience when traveling with M. We took additional trips to Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, London, Vienna and Budapest for the Christmas holidays, and an any icy and unforgettable Quebec City at New Year’s (where we spent NY Eve in the thrall of a Scottish Elvis impersonator who masterfully wiggled and crooned his way through the entire Elvis Christmas album, replete with Pink Cadillac convertible onstage, flanked by Rudolph and his reindeer cohorts. The point of all this verbose reminiscing is… it makes me happy! And I fervently hope some of you have similar anecdotes and stories of our precious friend and my great companion and running buddy. Happily my offspring have caught the travel bug and are carrying on the tradition over domestic and overseas adventures. My son Spencer lives in Paris with wife Ximena and daughter Zoe, and my younger son Mitchell is a painter who currently lives in Berlin, and whose art is displayed world-wide. My daughter Emily travels the world extensively with wife Kate and my grandz Reid and Eddie, who are old enough at 7 to remember their Jojo (Marjorie’s gran moniker) very fondly. I like to think they’ve inherited her fierce curiosity and love of reading and travel. I KNOW they have, and they’ll pass it on.
John Kehe
6th January 2023
I'm so sorry to learn Marjorie is gone. I worked with her as a copy kid at The CSM about 1,000 years ago, or so it seems. She was always kind and thoughtful and happy. She had depth and scope, something most of us lacked at that age. We went to see Mary Poppins together and laughed over it for a month, imagining all the somber and serious editors we worked with as characters from the movie. When I moved to CT for another job, I was so lonely. And there was Marjorie, coming to visit and going out of her way to cheer me up.
We got in touch again later in life. She was back at The CSM and I was at a magazine in NYC. We talked several times (she was totally in love with her husband and his family) but never met up. Another regret on my list.
She was a brilliant writer, an imaginative thinker, and a kind, supportive friend. I've enjoyed looking at the photos--am I wrong or did she look almost the same (which means very good) at every age?! I wish I'd had a final laugh with her.
Wendy Talarico
5th January 2023
Who was Marjorie Coeyman Kehe? The daughter of teachers who never stopped learning. A child of NJ who so loved Manhattan that she swore she’d never leave. But when it was clear that Boston was to be her new home once we married, she embraced it with (at least 1/2 of) her whole heart.. We took advantage of all Boston had to offer - it’s lovely green spaces, its galleries and museums, beaches, great bookstores, historic residential areas (we bought our house in one of them -Sumner Hill), and Beantown’s surprisingly lively theatre scene. She subscribed to at least two theatre company’s full seasons of offerings for our entire marriage. At first I had to be coaxed to come along, but in no time I became a “theatre person” too (mostly to be with her, but still….). And though she embraced her new home, her love for NYC never wavered. We’d find some reason to drive down and take in something wonderful at least every 6 weeks. And as soon as we hit the Apple, she’d be grinning like the lights of Broadway until it was time to return home. To be honest, it’s hard for me to return there now. That’s HER bliss.
Marjorie was a lifelong reader (for pleasure - not just because of her CS Monitor book editor’s job), and never headed bedward without a book in her hand. She was already a very interesting person, but all the reading exponentialized that. (Okay, so I made up a word).
Marjorie walked EVERYWHERE. Miles and miles to work and back. Miles and miles with our dogs - first Sheba, then Lucie. And we bicycled everywhere together, whenever weather allowed. We had wonderful Friday eve movie dates, where we’d leave work on our bikes and ride to Cambridge, to our favorite arthouse movie theatre and the cozy little restaurant next door -The Hungry Mother - where we’d sit at the bar and have southern style shrimp and grits, followed by their delish buttermilk pie. Then off to the movie, then the long night ride back to Jamaica Plain. Total outing about 10 miles. We probably did it 90 - 100 times.
Marjorie was Yankees fan - deep navy blue. Like her Jeter-lovin’ mom. And not just a fan, but knowledgeable. We tried to take in a game at a different major league or minor league stadium at least once a year. By the time we took in games in Washington DC and Baltimore in the late summer of 2018, we’d managed 16. Plus Spring training in Arizona in 2014.
Marjorie never had children of her own, but was as motherly and fostering as anyone I’ve known. She was delighted when Reid and Eddie were born, and she loved being their loving JoJo for 3 wonderful years. She would be crazy about our newest family member Zoe (photos posted).
Her relationship to God was the top priority in Marjorie’s life, and she worked and prayed about it daily. Her dedication to her church was selfless and quite moving. I’m not a believer but I know that I, and all members of her circle of friends and family, benefitted from the grace and sense of self she developed over those many years of study and introspection. It made her the Marjorie we knew and loved.
johnkehe
9th January 2022