Sallie Donahue McGarry Obituary (1912 - 2009)

Loving and caring mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great great-grandmother went to be with the Lord on Friday, January 30, 2009 at the age of 96. She was born Sadie Marie on June 2nd, 1912, at Barker Creek, near Kalkaska, Michigan, to Michael John Donahue and Margaret Agnes (Gambin) Donahue. She graduated from St. Francis Catholic High School in Traverse City in 1929. She married Ernest Mark McGarry of Traverse City on December 6, 1930 at St. Francis Catholic Church in Traverse City. After coming to Eaton Rapids with her family in 1954, Sallie went to work in the health care area, working as a nurse in the West Side Nursing Home and later as a nurse in the newly built Eaton Rapids Community Hospital where she worked for over 35 years. During these years she also sold real estate for William Rogers Realty of Holt. After retirement she continued on at the hospital as a volunteer Gray Lady with the Red Cross Ladies Auxiliary and as a volunteer for St. Vincent de Paul Society. She was a devoted wife and mother. She loved cooking, painting pictures, gardening, sewing, but most of all she loved people. She was a devout member of St. Peter Catholic Church. She will be fondly remembered for her warm smile and endearing ways and missed by all who knew her. She was preceded in death by Ernest, her husband of 44 years; two daughters, infant Marie and Noreen Taft; two brothers, John Donahue and Joseph Steve; two sisters, Anita Birgy and Bernadine Seeley; one grandson, Mathew J. Taft. Sallie is survived by her two sons, Mitchell (Yvonne) McGarry of Lansing, and Stephen (Cathy) McGarry of Eaton Rapids; four daughters, Joann Rogers of Holt, Sandra Coats, Susan McGarry and Rebecca (Dale) Ernst all of Eaton Rapids; 21 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren and 1 great great-grandchild. Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, February 2, 2009 at 11:00 A.M. at St. Peter Catholic Church at 515 E. Knight St. Eaton Rapids, MI. 48827. Family will receive friends at the Skinner Funeral Home on Sunday from 2-4 P.M. and at St. Peter Church Sunday evening from 6-8 P.M. with a Rosary being prayed at 6:00 P.M. Visitation Monday at church at10:00 A.M. until Mass. For those desiring memorial gifts may be made to the Eaton Rapids St. Vincent de Paul Society in memory of Sally D. McGarry.