Margaret Helena McGillivary

Margaret Helena McGillivary peacefully passed away into the heavens while surrounded by her loved ones on Saturday November 9, 2024, shortly after celebrating her 102nd birthday.

She was born October 12, 1922 to Walter and Helena Beeman, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She, along with her three sisters, Lois, Olive, and Winifred, were student residents of the Episcopal Convent of the Transfiguration boarding school, where she attended through 8th grade in Cincinnati, OH. Upon graduation from high school, she received a scholarship in Modern Dance / Ballet to the College of Music in Ohio.

During WWII she worked at Wright Aeronautical in Paterson, NJ. She married Joseph McGillivary in Baltimore, MD and moved to his hometown, Gloucester, MA. Joseph served five years in the Navy before enlisting in the Air Force to start a family with Margaret. Margaret became a full-time homemaker. Joe’s 20 years in the Air-Force included frequent relocations, which Margaret managed as the family grew: Jane Alyson was born in Gloucester, MA; Kathleen “Kati” Helen was born in Tuscon, AZ; Joseph “Joe” III in San Antonio, TX; and Kevin Angus in Colorado Springs, CO. Additional Air Force assignments in France and Germany (1962-1965) allowed for family vacations to multiple countries of Europe, Italy, and Switzerland.

Margaret, embodied with strength and resilience, is a four time cancer survivor beating lung, colon, and breast cancer. She persevered and did not let these struggles stop her from living a full life.

After Joe retired, Margaret moved to Topeka in the 1980s. Although she attended college in San Antonio, TX, she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in English from Washburn University in Topeka, KS in 1986.

Margaret was a long standing member of Grace Episcopal Cathedral, Daughters of the King, and EFM. She worked as Assistant Manager of Landmark Apartments and was a Senior Companion to many clients. In 2009, she retired and moved to “Trent Plaza” in Aldersgate Village, where she enjoyed compassionate, loving care.

During retirement she was active in the Trent Resident Council and enjoyed playing Bridge weekly at the Women’s Club until 100 years of age. She was proud to be a member of Kansas Authors Club and wrote journals, stories, and poems all her life. She has many writings that have yet to be read. She also enjoyed volunteering in many different ways at church, Topeka Library, and Margaret loved knitting hat’s for the newborn babies in the Stormont Vail Hospital Nursery, which she enjoyed delivering with her son Kevin.

She is proceeded in death by daughter: Kathleen (Kati), and son: Joseph (Joe). She is survived by two children: Kevin McGillivary (Topeka, KS) and Jane Flett (OKC, Oklahoma); 3 grandchildren: Masalyn Flett (Erin), Jesse Flett (Rabecka), Mariya DeTerlizzi (Vincent) and four great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Margaret’s Life will be held at Grace Episcopal Cathedral, located at 701 SW 8th Ave, Topeka, KS 66603 at 10:30am on Saturday, January 4, 2025. Her final resting place will be in the Grace Episcopal Cathedral Family Columbarium. 

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” -Revelation 21:3-4

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. - John 11:25

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