William L. MacFadyen

Union – William “Nim” MacFadyen, formerly of Bath, died of complications from lung cancer early on the morning of September 3, 2024 at the Sussman House hospice in Rockport, Maine. His wife Suzanne was with him when he passed. Nim had been at Maine General Hospital in Augusta for several weeks but was able to return to his home in Union, Maine, surrounded by family and the books and music and art he loved, and where he could scratch his beloved Golden Retrievers on their muzzles one more time before entering hospice.

     Born in New York City on April 25, 1955, to John and Mary Esther Edge MacFadyen, Nim was a great-great-grandson of Bath shipbuilder Arthur Sewall and was deeply proud of his Sewall heritage. A lifelong summer resident of Small Point, on the Phippsburg Peninsula, he lived in Rhode Island and Maine before settling in Union late in life.

     A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Nim was a talented artist who for much of his life earned his living as a housepainter. He sometimes joked, when asked what he did, that he was a capital “P” and lower case “p” painter. He was a passionate gardener, a dedicated fisherman, a skilled carpenter, and a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend.

     Above all, for those who knew him, Nim was a master storyteller, capable of weaving magic out of words based upon the most random observations and events. He wrote wonderful letters, essays, and short stories, and he lived long enough to see his first book, Picture This: Fictions & Reflections, published in 2024.

     Nim was predeceased by his parents and his brother Luke. He is survived by his wife Suzanne, his daughter Zinzi Edmundson and her husband Jesse Kivel of Owls Head; his grandsons James and Russell; his sister Camilla, of Bowdoinham, and his brother Tevere, of Phippsburg.

     He will be deeply missed.

     Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Maine General Hospital Physical Rehabilitation Unit and Sussman House Hospice Care. Arrangements are by Daigle Funeral Home, 819 High Street, Bath. Condolences may be made at www.DaigleFuneralHome.com.