Mary Bridget (Mackell) Magee

Magee, Mary Bridget. Age 91, of Brighton, formerly of Cuilleen, County Mayo, Ireland. Passed on Thursday, September 16 peacefully at her home in the arms of her children.

Mary was born Mary Mackell in a cottage on the side of Croagh Patrick, a spot as near heaven as it is possible to be on this earth. Daughter of Bernard Mackell, a talented craftsman and farmer, and Anne (nee Foy) Mackell, a gifted fiber artist and gardener.  

Mary came to America in 1948. From a tiny village where she had never seen electricity, she crossed the Atlantic and sailed past the Statue of Liberty into New York Harbor. She found a warm and welcoming home with her Goodman cousins in Newton. While working as a waitress at Howard Johnson’s, she met a shy young man from Brighton, Richard Magee. They were married, made a home in Brighton and had six children. Richard served the City of Boston, first as a Boston police officer, then as a Boston Firefighter at Engine 33, Ladder 15. Richard was killed in the line of duty when fighting the Vendome fire, along with 8 other Boston firefighters, in 1972. While raising six children, Mary also worked as a waitress for several catering firms, volunteered for her church and other community organizations, and knitted and crocheted afghans that warmed hundreds of babies in her family and community. She was proudly sworn in as an American citizen in 1976. Like countless immigrants, she made substantial and lasting contributions to her new country.

Mary had an extraordinary gift for kindness, gentleness, generosity, and humor. Every visitor to her house was made to feel welcome and at home. Every person she met was a soon-to-be friend. She had a deep and genuine interest in others, and everywhere she went people responded to her beautiful smile, bright blue eyes, and charismatic warmth and wit. In spite of enormous loss, including the deaths of her husband and two of her children, Mary maintained a positive spirit and was a source of joy and uplift in the lives of everyone who knew her.

Prayers for Mary and the repose of her soul are welcome, but not needed, because if there is a heaven, no one has ever deserved entry into it more.

Mary was predeceased by her husband, Firefighter Richard Magee, her sister Sadie Donnelly, and her sons Michael and Joseph Magee. Mary is survived by her sisters, Evelyn Duffy of Louisburgh, Ireland, and Kitty Hocker, of Whitman, MA., her children Maureen King and her husband Bruce, retired Boston Fire District Chief Richard Magee and his wife Elizabeth, Bernard Magee, and Anne Coughlin, her grandchildren Carly House and her fiance Austin Bolton, Katie Harmon and her husband Keith, Emily King and her fiance Evan Egenolf, Dr. Jennifer Magee and her husband Josh Aigen, Richard Magee and his wife Jen, Joanna Cassidy and her husband Ryan, Tom Repetto and his wife Melissa, Joe Magee, Michaela Magee, Jim Coughlin and his partner Samantha Colby, and Laura Coughlin, and her great-grandchildren Sam, Max, and Bridget Harmon, Charlotte and Connor Aigen, Olivia and Cam Magee, and Colton Cassidy along with innumerable friends and loved ones in Ireland and America.

A wake will be held at the Lehman, Reen, McNamara Funeral Home, 63 Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton on Sunday, September 19 from 3 to 7 p.m., followed by a funeral mass on Monday, September 20 at 10 a.m. at St. Anthony Church, 43 Holton Street, Allston, with burial at St. Joseph Cemetary in West Roxbury. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Boys Town or the Make a Wish Foundation.

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