Marjorie Midge Hayden

NISKAYUNA Marjorie Midge Hayden, the last surviving adopted grandchild of GE's Electrical Wizard, Charles Proteus Steinmetz, passed away at Alterra Assisted Living, Union Street, Niskayuna, on her 97th birthday, January 24, 2006. Marjorie, nicknamed Midget by Daddy Steinmetz, became known as Midge to her friends for the rest of her life. Her two brothers, older brother Joe and younger brother Bill, predeceased her. Her early years were spent in the beautiful home on Wendell Avenue, built by Steinmetz for the family: Joseph LeRoy and Corinne Rost Hayden, her mother and father. In addition to his laboratory, the house contained a wonderful solarium with exotic plants and lizards that she remembered fondly in later years. An avid and accomplished golfer, Midge began playing at age 11 after a trip with Daddy Steinmetz and her family to the West Coast and Pebble Beach Golf Course in Calif. She continued to play until she was in her 90s and her pure swing always remained in tact. Club champion at the Mohawk Golf Club during three decades, 1928, 1931 and 1940, she never stopped striving for improvement. In her 80s, Midge could be seen early each morning at her beloved Mohawk Golf Club (she joined in 1922), carrying her small bag with only a few clubs and playing her favorite game while the greenskeepers prepared the course for the day. She continued to scrutinize as she observed others' golf swings and privately critiqued them. The 12th hole at Mohawk was dedicated to her in 2002 during Arnold Palmer's appearance in an Ellis Hospital Skins Game. Midge graduated from Schenectady High School in 1929. She frequently referred to Elmer Avenue and Brown Schools as her alma maters, as she had been a student there for her pre-high school education. She attended Wellesley College in Mass.; however, she decided she needed to transfer to a school at which she would learn how to make a living. She graduated from Catherine Gibbs School in Boston and, upon returning home, went to work for the General Electric Company where her father Joseph Hayden had, at one time, assisted Steinmetz in his laboratory. At GE, she became one of the pioneer computer programmers in the engineering laboratory. For most of her life, she lived in the Schenectady area except for a brief period during which she worked in the GE plant in Lynn, Mass. and a couple of years spent in San Francisco. Always on the go and usually accompanied by her dog, she loved driving her car. She had learned to drive at an early age when Daddy Steinmetz allowed her to drive the Detroit Electric in their yards on Wendell and their camp on the Mohawk River. She bought and restored an historic farmhouse in Vischers Ferry during the 1950s. The oldest section of the home had been built in the 1700s and the newer portion in the early 1800s. She enjoyed driving her tractor and plowing her vegetable garden, which she tended with loving care. An early advocate of organic farming, she grew specimen vegetables frequently noted in journals for their excellence. The Vischers Ferry residence and acreage were sold in the 1980s and Midge moved to Townsend Road in Schenectady to be closer to friends and the Mohawk Golf Club. She continued to grow vegetables and mow her own lawn until she was in her mid-80s. Midge moved to Alterra Assisted Living facility on Union Street in 1999, happily only two blocks from the Mohawk Golf Club. She enjoyed her frequent visits to the club and particularly liked the days she could ride out on the course in a golf cart with her friends to watch them play. She is survived by two nephews, Joseph Hayden Steinmetz Hayden II and wife Susan of Candia, N.H. and William Pittman Peter Hayden of Seattle; and one niece, Jean Hayden Hutchins and her husband Edward of Southern Pines, N.C. There are several grandnephews and nieces. Midge donated her remains to the Albany Medical College Anatomical Program. A memorial service is being planned for early spring to celebrate her life. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Schenectady Museum and Planetarium, Nott Terrace Heights, Schenectady, NY 12308 or the First Unitarian Society, 1221 Wendell Ave., Schenectady, NY 12308.