Inglemoor High faculty member Tina MacRae passed away Sunday evening.

According to Inglemoor Principal Vicki 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.

She leaves behind her husband, Keith, her daughter, Darian, and her son, Drake.

“Ms. MacRae was the heartbeat of Inglemoor High School, and she developed many friends and connections with students, staff and families. I am sure your thoughts and prayers for the MacRae family would be greatly appreciated,” read Sherwood’s message.

A memorial service to honor MacRae and celebrate her life will be held from 4-6 p.m. this Sunday at Inglemoor High, 15500 Simonds Road N.E., Kenmore.

Seating is limited, so people are encouraged to arrive early.

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.

The following article is written by a former Inglemoor student and friend of MacRae’s.

• The Inglemoor High community lost its guiding light Sunday with the passing of Tina MacRae. TMac, as we all knew her, was more than a mother, teacher and friend. TMac was a laugher, a hugger, a football fan, a modern woman, an official Viking vixen, a back-massager, a joker, a best friend, a Ms. Fix-It, a Naked Viking enthusiast, an Elvis impersonator, a cheerleader, an inspiration. She will never be matched. She will never be replaced. Nothing could ever come close.

As a math teacher and Associated Student Body (ASB) adviser, TMac knew everyone at Inglemoor and had a hand in almost everything that went on. You would never know just how hard she worked because she always had everything under control, but she was relentless and dynamic.  She held everyone and everything at Inglemoor together. Whether she was remembering someone’s birthday, planning homecoming, making posters or going to the latest sporting event, TMac always had others in mind and something up her sleeve.

I can remember so many times when she went to the ends of the earth and back for her students and colleagues. She was always there for us, no matter what we needed. She pushed us to achieve more and to try new things. And so many times, she saved the day by remembering what we forgot or inventing a solution for the stickiest situations.

We wouldn’t have gotten anything off the ground without her. She was our secret weapon.
Of the things I loved about TMac like her sense of humor, her saucy attitude, her can-do approach to life, what I most loved was how she was always 100 percent herself. Not for one moment did she waver from who she truly was. It was inspiring, especially to unsure high-school students, to see a woman be so powerful, so unapologetic about who she was and so genuinely content with herself.

When I was a senior, our ASB mission statement included a phrase that perfectly illustrated how TMac did her job.

“Be kind,” it said. “Be selfless. Be humble. Be caring. Be passionate. Be yourself.”
TMac lived and loved by those ideas.

TMac exuded this feeling of unconditional love and acceptance. She saw through the fronts that we put up as vain high-school students, ever in pursuit of being cool, and she loved us anyway. She was selfless with her time and tolerant of our quirks.

TMac was a great educator because she knew us better than anyone else ever cared to. She taught us to be leaders.  She saw what each of us needed and instead of giving it to us, made us earn it. She helped us achieve and more importantly, she was there for us when we failed.

Looking back on my time at Inglemoor, I can’t remember a day without TMac inspiring me to work harder, to be better and most importantly to be happy.

Although it will be difficult, we will learn to go on without the things that TMac so selflessly gave us, but nothing can replace the light she brought to our lives. Nothing can fill the void where her laugh and her hug belong.

But even now, the thing that lifts me up from the sorrow I feel for her loss is TMac herself. I know that if she were here, she would pat me on the back and say something like “It’s going to be OK. Now let’s get to work.”

Samantha Valtierra Bush graduated from Inglemoor High in 2009 and was ASB president under Tina MacRae’s guidance. She is a sophomore studying journalism at Arizona State University.

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