Walter H Mackie, Jr.

Walter Hammond Mackie, Jr., aka “Tad”, died peacefully in his sleep in Front Royal, Virginia, after a four-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

He was born February 26, 1942, in Wilmington, Delaware, the son of Lieutenant Colonel Walter Hammond Mackie, Sr., United States Army (Retired) and Mary Adaline (née Webb) Mackie, a legal secretary.  As an Army dependent, he experienced life in Germany, and Okinawa, Japan, during the American occupation of those countries, though most of his growing up was in Dover, Delaware, birthplace of his mother. He was a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist before graduating from Dover High School, Delaware, in 1961; and he later earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from Delaware State University. In 1963, he served a four-year enlistment in the Delaware Army National Guard and worked for the General Foods Company in Dover as an inspection technician until joining the Federal Civil Service as a financial management analyst in 1973, moving his family to Fredericksburg, Virginia.  From 1973 until his 2003 retirement, Tad worked in the Washington, D.C. area for the Department of Navy.  Assigned to the Pentagon in 1980, he retired as a GS-15.  During his career, he was awarded both the Superior Meritorious Service medal and the Civilian Meritorious Service medal by the Secretary of the Navy as well as countless monetary awards for his work.

Besides family, Tad had two passions.  One was playing in chess tournaments in Delaware and Virginia which frequently required playing simultaneous chess games against as many as ten opponents.  His other passion was that of a philatelist.  He joined the Mexico-Elmhurst Philatelic Society International (MEPSI) and became MEPSI's Librarian, then its Vice President.  Quoting a current MEPSI officer: "He created the physical library that MEPSI owns today, a huge benefit to our membership and our Society."

After a 44-year marriage, his wife Carol Windsor Mackie predeceased him in 2008. Tad is survived by his second wife, Jane Cunningham Mackie, Strasburg, Virginia; his daughter, Susan Elizabeth Shaw, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; his son, David Windsor Mackie, Cary, North Carolina; brother, Duncan Rand Mackie, Henderson, Nevada, and sister, Mary Ann “Mimi” Mackie Nantz, Dover, Delaware, and six grandchildren.  

Services will be at a later date.

His family requests any donations be made to the Parkinson's Foundation.

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