Marion Thayer Rand

PORTLAND – Marion “Mimi” Thayer Rand, 61, of Portland and Little Diamond Island, beloved wife of Mark H. Rand, passed away peacefully at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House on April 2, 2023 after a 3 week courageous battle with ovarian cancer.

Born in the Woodford section of Portland on July 14, 1961, Marion was the daughter of Shirley Thayer Fawcett and the late Richard L. Thayer, Jr. She was the always happy middle child of three and graduated from Deering High School in 1980. A communicant of St. Joseph’s Church, her strong faith guided her throughout her life.

For many years, Mark and Marion spent the majority of their time at their home on Little Diamond Island and winter months at their home on Woodford Street. Marion’s love for nature and Casco Bay made her life on the island idyllic. You might have spotted her piloting her boat across the bay, lobstering with Mark, out fishing with her adored nephews, Sammy and Jonathan, collecting sea glass and ocean treasures with her grandchildren, meticulously maintaining her gardens and decorating EVERY holiday or as an avid runner, trekking across the sandbar to Great Diamond Island. Always a go-getter, Marion had a 15-year career at Anjon’s Restaurant and then started her own cleaning business. This past year, she and her sister opened Queenie’s Castle in Deering Oaks. She loved serving, chatting and laughing with patrons, old and new.

To have met Marion was to have felt you had reacquainted with a long-lost friend. She exuded love, kindness, empathy and possessed a quiet wisdom. She tried to live her life in the moment and always saw the positive in all people and situations. Marion had an undeniable knack for making people fall in love with her. Her beautiful smile, her selflessness and grace made it impossible to not fall under her spell. She will be remembered as a kind, compassionate woman always ready to help. She touched the lives of everyone she met and truly embodied the special words “to know her was to love her”.

Along with her father, she was predeceased by her brother, Richard “Sonny” Thayer, III.

Marion will forever be deeply loved and missed by her husband, Mark, who was the love of her life and her loving family, her mother, her sister Queenie Thayer, nephew Sammy Thayer, who was like a son to her, and his fiancé Simone, her nephew Mark Hurley and Uncle Jeff Thayer who was like a brother to her. She had a special bond with her sisters in law, Julie Rand and Gale McGee. She also leaves behind her stepchildren Gretchen, Mark, Stephanie, Katie, Zack and Luke and their beloved spouses/partners and her grandchildren Addie, Celia, Bodhi, Jake, Valerie, Athena, Torin, Helen, Finn, Beckett, Maggie, Sadie, Chloe, Nolan and Daphne and many nieces and nephews and countless friends who, along with Queenie, referred to her fondly as “Sissy”.

Marion’s family would like to express their sincere gratitude for the care provided by nurses and care staff of MMC and Leslie Bradford, MD and her team. The family would also like to thank the staff at Gosnell House who provided such compassionate care.

Visitation will be held 4-7 pm Monday, April 10 at Jones, Rich, & Barnes Funeral Home, 199 Woodford Street, Portland.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 am Tuesday, April 11 at St. Joseph Church, 673 Stevens Ave., Portland.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to: Hospice of Southern Maine, Gosnell Memorial

Hospice House, 390 US Route One #1, Scarborough, ME 04074.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.jonesrichandbarnes.com for the Rand family.