Tracey McArdle: Passionate Reader, Writer, Traveler, Professor [Obituary]

Tracey Diane McArdle, who had the mind of a writer and an adventurous heart, died Nov. 26 in Ouray, CO at the age of 54. She had moved to Ouray from Bethlehem in 2010.

Born Dec. 8, 1958, she was the daughter of William R. Mitchell and the late Nancy Mitchell Meyers. Tracey grew up in Ramsey and Wyckoff, N.J. After losing her mother at age 16, Tracey quickly became self-reliant, putting herself through college on scholarships and waitressing tips.

She graduated magna cum laude from Douglass College of Rutgers University with a degree in English literature and later earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing.

Tracey was known for her quick wit, fierce intellect and sense of adventure that led her to hitchhike across country during summers in college to work at fish canneries in Homer, Alaska. She later spent two months backpacking through Europe and lived in Dublin, Ireland for a time. 

She taught English and writing as an adjunct professor at several universities, including Penn State, Schuylkill campus and Kutztown University.

Tracey devoured books, including everything by James Joyce and Jack Kerouac, and was a gifted storyteller both on a page and over a cup of coffee.

Like Kerouac, the only people for Tracey were “the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved…who burn like fabulous yellow roman candles.”

She married Blaise McArdle in Maine in 1991 and they moved to Bethlehem to raise their daughters, Genevieve and Pallen, who were the light of Tracey’s life. They made many friends through the Lehigh Valley chapter of Families with Children from China and Trinity Episcopal Church. 

Blaise died in 2009, shortly after Tracey was laid low by an aortic aneurysm. Tracey and her daughters moved in with her sisters, Kim and Robin Mitchell of Ouray, who took care beautiful care of all three.

Survivors, in addition to her daughters, father and sisters Kim and Robin, include her step-mother Ruth; sister Cassie, brother Chris.

Tracey lived life with curiosity, creativity and passion. Her fabulous yellow roman candle burns still.