Marjorie Sloat Soden

June 5, 1928-Sept. 8, 2025

Marjorie S. Soden passed away on Monday at Piper Shores in Scarborough. She was 97. Born in Portland, Marjorie lived in several states before returning to Maine as a teenager after the death of her father, a hotel manager. She graduated from Deering High School in 1945, and then from Westbrook Junior College two years later. Marjorie worked as a legal secretary before marrying and eventually raising five children, one of whom, Mark Philbrick, predeceased her. Her husband, Irving "Ted" Soden, died in 1989 in New Hampshire.

Marjorie never met a stranger, and credited her gregariousness with being an only child who moved frequently. She liked nothing better than a great party, and tore up the dance floor at the Peaks Island dance hall, and at Bowdoin College house parties in the 1940s. Her favorite job was as a buyer in the junior's department at the iconic Porteous, Mitchell & Braun department store on Congress St. "I could buy whatever I liked," she joked, "as long as it was navy blue." She later became a Real Estate Broker.

Marjorie enjoyed fashion, gardening and singing, and was a long-time member of the Cumberland Club on High Street. She performed at the Lyric Theater in South Portland and volunteered for many organizations, such as the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the March of Dimes, and Mercy Hospital.

Marjorie's family would like to thank the nursing staff at Holbrook Health Center and Compassus Hospice in Scarborough for their care and compassion. A gathering will be held in Cape Elizabeth at a later date.