Happy Birthday, Mimi

Today, May 9th, would have been my grandmother’s 91st birthday.

Mary Margaret "Maura" McGraw was born in Stanton, Nebraska, and was the daughter of Thomas McGraw and Elizabeth Marie Delaney.

She was the eldest of five children. Her siblings were:

• Thomas R. McGraw, born January 19, 1919, in Geneva, Nebraska; died February 26, 1984, in Tigard, Oregon.

• Robert McGraw, born August 18, 1924, in Nebraska; died August 13, 2000, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

• Myda G. McGraw, born December 23, 1927, in Keystone, Nebraska; died January 27, 2002, in Sioux City, Woodbury Co, Iowa.

• One sister who is still living.

On June 10, 1936, Mary married George Marvin Dagle in Elk Point, Nebraska. Marvin, as he was called, died on August 12, 1951, at the age of 39, in Tacoma, Washington, leaving Mary alone to raise their two young daughters, Sharon and Judy.

Mary and the girls moved to California a few years after Marvin’s death. She eventually remarried, and had another daughter who is still living.

Mary worked at a variety of jobs to support her family; however, the one that I remember best is when she worked as a hostess and clubhouse supervisor at Leisure World in Laguna Hills (now Laguna Woods Village), California. She loved making the lives of the residents more pleasant, and they, in turn, loved her.

Mary died on February 24, 2004, in Hemet California. She is buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal