Marion Katherine Seel Hackley was born on July 20,1926, in Mineola on Long Island, NewYork, to Louis Seel and Emma Ida (Schultz) Seel, immigrants from Germany. Her first language was German. In the public schools she learned to speak, read, and write English. Her father was a manager of A & P grocery stores, and in the 1930’s he moved the family to Tunbridge, Vermont, to run a small grocery store. Marion walked a mile to a two room schoolhouse. She remembered her mother becoming a U. S. citizen, wearing a dress she had sewn of red, white, and blue. The family regarded themselves as Americans with a German background.

They returned to Long Island, and Marion graduated from Glen Cove High School in 1943. She attended Cornell University on a scholarship, graduating in 1946 with a degree in Home Economics. Her mother wanted her to have a practical college education so she could support herself. She went to work for Doubleday and Company, a publisher just outside New York City, and a co-worker introduced her to George Hackley, an electrical engineer working in radar. They were married at the Episcopal Church of the Advent, Westbury, New York, on June 6, 1948. Soon after, he was offered a job in Redwood City, California to work for Varian Associates, one of the first electronic firms in what has become Silicon Valley.

Marion loved California with its abundance of fruits, vegetables, and sunshine. They soon had three children, Laura, Robert (Bob), and Brian, and settled in 1951 in a new ranch home in Los Altos, California, then a town of orchards and farms. They enjoyed camping in the Sierras and at Lake of the Woods, Oregon. Marion was a good cook, gardener, enjoyed sewing and reading, especially mysteries and history, and enjoyed theater, opera and Frank Sinatra. They belonged to Christ Episcopal Church in Los Altos. In 1966, she went to work for Wells Fargo Bank in Mountain View and credited the women’s movement with encouraging her in the 1970’s to seek more challenging roles in the bank system. With her work, she saw the rise of the computer industry. She retired in 1988 to take care of her mother and enjoyed traveling and her grandchildren. A great sadness was the passing of her son Robert due to a brain tumor in 1997. In 2013 she moved to Chelsea, Michigan, to be closer to family.

She leaves Laura (Clifford) Craig of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mary Hackley of Edmonds, Washington, Brian (Wendy) Hackley of Seneca, S.C., grandchildren Steve (Jennifer) Hackley, Paul (Cori) Craig, Julie Craig, and granddaughter Lilian Craig. The family is grateful to the staff at Towsley Village at Chelsea Retirement Community for her care.

Marion’s memorial service will be held Saturday, Feb. 10, 11:00 am at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church with Rev. Alan Gibson officiating. Donations in her memory may be made to the UMRC Foundation, 805 West Middle Street or Christ Episcopal Church, 1040 Border Rd., Los Altos, CA, 94024.