Madge Macfarlane

Madison - Madge Anne Macfarlane, 85, of Madison, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully after a brief illness on February 22, 2020, in the loving presence of her husband of 54 years, Iain, at Agrace Hospice, Madison, Wisconsin. She was the daughter of Robin and Ruth McCleary of Detroit, Michigan, and from her early years, she lived a remarkable and influential life.

She married Iain Macfarlane of Sydney, Australia, on September 24, 1964, in Birmingham, Michigan. Madge raised four children in both Australia and the United States: Julie, Dennis (deceased), Robert, and Jeffrey. She had five Grandchildren and one Great-granddaughter. She is also survived by her sister, Barbara.

Madge earned her Bachelor of Arts degree and her Master of Social Work degree from Michigan State University. In her post-college career and in conjunction with the Governor of the State of Michigan, she was instrumental in developing the first program and legislation in the United States related to dealing with battered children based on her experience of working in the inner city of Detroit.

After marrying Iain and moving to Australia for 12 years, she focused on raising four children and venturing into personal exploration of creative endeavors that led to taking on the challenge of becoming a watercolor artist. In her own words, “I have always enjoyed a good challenge, and working in watercolor is certainly just that. It continues to tantalize and entertain me. Being curious by nature, I love to take what I have learned from others, explore working with new materials, and push myself to develop my own distinct voice. Although watercolor is known for its share of “rules,” which are fun to follow, I find that they are even more fun to break. It is in breaking rules and risking failure that discoveries are made. What interests me as an artist is discovering how best to bring a sense of dignity, beauty, and story to a given subject even if bending a few of art’s conventions, like perspective, composition, color placement, paint application or the surface I paint on.”

After returning as a family to the US in 1978 to New York (and later Knoxville TN, Minneapolis, MN and Madison, WI), Madge became active in entering national and international Art Shows and continuing her personal artist skills by working with nationally recognized watercolor artists.  She received numerous awards in many state and national juried shows including the painting selected from a large national art contest in 1992 with a painting titled “Celebrations” to represent the 50th Anniversary of the City of Oak Ridge, TN. Her paintings are now hung in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom in private homes as well as many in public places including Madison.

In her “spare” time, she was an avid gardener and certified as a Master Gardener at the University of Tennessee; she became an accomplished golfer and tennis player and partnered her husband in many events; she took a variety of cooking classes and was always experimenting with food; she was a veracious reader; and she made many international trips to most parts of the world with her husband. She was an influencer and motivator of many people and was always a “pied piper” for children and young people.

UPDATE: The “Celebration of the Life, Love and Art of Madge” will be held at Lussier Family Heritage Center, 3101 Lake Farm Road, Madison, WI, on Monday, August 16 at 3:00 pm-5:30 pm.  The Celebration will be presented at 3:30 pm and followed by light food. All friends of Madge and family are welcome to celebrate.

In remembrance of Madge’s life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to Agrace Hospice Foundation, Madison, or the American Cancer Society.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Services

3610 Speedway Road

(608) 238-3434