Darian MacRae spoke through tears Sunday evening, “She was a strong woman, an amazing person. I’m honored to be her daughter.”
The teenager was talking about Tina, or TMac as she was known around Inglemoor High, who passed away Feb. 27 at the age of 41. Darian was one of 11 speakers at her mom’s memorial attended by about 1,500 people in the school gymnasium.
“They have to Webcast the event because they didn’t think everyone would fit into a high-school gymnasium,” Darian added, asking attendees to perform random acts of kindness in Tina’s honor each day.
Inglemoor student Sarah Smith, the Associated Student Body (ASB) vice president, earlier noted that Tina “made everyone feel comfortable. She taught me that wasn’t being kind, but the only way to live your life.” Tina was a math teacher, ASB adviser and involved in a wealth of activities at the school.
Other speakers were friend and colleague Katrina Allemeier, ASB co-presidents Jessie Zou and Nick Carey, friends Tony Sanchez and Jordan Graham, Inglemoor Junior Football coach Mike Brejda, principal Vicki Sherwood, brother Anthony Perry and son Drake (accompanied by a group of friends) while husband Keith watched from the front row.
Perry said that Tina was all about perseverance, being a jock (girls hockey in her native Canada) and being deliberate, meaning living her life with a purpose. During her final three days vacationing in Hawaii, Perry noted that although his sister was afraid of heights, she jumped at the chance to go first in a ziplining session.
Inglemoor Principal Vicki Sherwood added that Tina could be goofy at times, telling the crowd of Tina’s first time organizing a school dance and wearing a long pink dress with black Doc Marten combat boots.
On the jock front, Allemeier and Brejda spoke of her passion for Seahawks and Inglemoor Viking football and Carey added with a smile, “She was the only person in my three years at Inglemoor High School who asked me how the golf team was doing,” drawing laughter from the crowd.
Brejda said that Tina was his team’s dignified and classy “life coach,” and beyond the wins and losses, “She helped bring self-confidence, lessons they (the players) can use the rest of their life.”
Former ASB president Kurt Wagner couldn’t attend the memorial, but Sanchez read from a letter, which said that “the energy she infused in all of us will light the world.”
When Allemeier and her family moved to the area from Duvall, she said they didn’t know much about the Inglemoor community. Once she befriended Tina, all that changed, and Viking black and gold became part of their wardrobes and lifestyle.
“We were in Tina Zone,” she said of her close friend. “She was our own personal tour guide.
“Our school will miss her organization and passion … I will miss my buddy.”
* According to Sherwood via the school’s Web site, MacRae was vacationing with her husband and friends over mid-winter break when she became ill and required surgery for an infection related to Crohn’s disease, school officials and one friend said. She was airlifted to Honolulu, Hawaii, for a second surgery and placed in an intensive-care unit. Her immediate family flew to Hawaii to be with her at her bedside.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to Inglemoor High ASB in honor of Tina MacRae. Send donations to: Inglemoor High, 15500 Simonds Road N.E. Kenmore, WA 98028-4430.
