Mary Magill

Mary Louise Timlin Magill passed away on August 23, 2016 at her home in Fargo, North Dakota, surrounded by family and close friends. Mary was born on November 25, 1925 in New York City to Robert and Marguerite Timlin (nee Flynn). Her father’s work as a civil engineer took the family all over the country and world, including Liberia and Cuba, but Mary was primarily raised in suburban Chicago. She graduated from Trinity High School, attended Holy Rosary College, and then transferred to and graduated from University of Illinois with a BA in Spanish. After college, Mary moved to Washington D.C., where she attended Georgetown law school for a year. Deciding law school was not for her, Mary was hired, based on her proficiency with languages, as a Chinese translator by the agency that was the precursor to the CIA. In Washington, she met a dashing Georgetown law student, Francis (Frank) John Magill, from Verona, North Dakota. Their first date was a tennis game. Frank quickly learned Mary did not actually know how to play tennis, but he was smitten with her personality, charm and smashing tennis attire. They married on October 22, 1955 and moved to Fargo, North Dakota, where Frank joined the Nilles law firm and later became a federal judge. Before her first child was born, Mary wrote the “Goings About Town” column for the Moorhead Daily News and she and Frank joined the Fargo Curling Club. Their first child, Marguerite (Meg), was born in 1957, and thereafter she was a full-time homemaker. Mary went on to raise six children (and a couple of dogs). She also was active in civic and church affairs, including being a long-time member of PEO, member and chair of the board of the Catholic Family Services (now Catholic Charities), member of the Junior League, and member of the Board of the Opportunity School. Friends and family will remember Mary as an eternal optimist, blessed with a sunny disposition. She loved fun, was game for anything, and wanted all around her to be happy. Gregarious in the extreme, Mary loved people and had a wonderful circle of long-time friends who she relished spending time with. Mary also loved to have her children and grandchildren around her, especially at the lakes, where she could satisfy her desire to learn as much as possible about the happenings in their lives. Mary was pre-deceased by her husband, Francis John Magill, and her two sisters, Jean Timlin Trousdale and Peggy Timlin Shine, and a grand-daughter, Kaitlyn Magill. She is survived by her six children and their spouses, Meg and Frank Connolly of Minneapolis, Frank and Peg Magill of Minneapolis, Dan Magill of Denver, Liz Magill and Leon Szeptycki of Palo Alto, Rob Magill and Amy Frisch of New York City, John and Kathy Magill of Stillwater, and thirteen grandchildren, TJ and his wife Alisa Connolly, Robert Connolly, Marguerite Connolly, Liza Magill, Jack Magill, Kirk Magill, Nicki Magill, Lindsay Magill, Alex Szeptycki, Claire Szeptycki, Sam Magill, Gus Magill, and Cecelia Magill. Special thanks to the the caring staff at Touchmark, Hospice of the Red River Valley, and Griswold Home Care. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation, in memory of Mary’s husband, to an organization devoted to Alzheimer’s research. Boulger Funeral Home of Fargo is handling arrangements.