Mary Jo Maguire died on May 20, 2025, in Brunswick, Maine.
(The following was provided by the Brackett Funeral Home on May 20, 2025:)
Mary Jo McMahon Maguire
Mary Jo McMahon Maguire, 87, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on May 20, 2025. She was born on February 2, 1938, in Harrisburg, PA, the youngest daughter of Thomas McMahon and Grace Seighman McMahon.
Mary Jo often said her life started when she left home and took a bus to New York City. Full of spirit, she found her first roommates while riding an elevator on her way to an interview at American Airlines. She loved city life and often spent her lunches browsing Lord and Taylor’s and Bloomingdales. She enjoyed her twenty-block walk to work down 5th Avenue (in heels) and always reminisced about her time there.
In April 1960, while working as an Executive Secretary in New York City, Mary Jo met the love of her life, Richard Maguire, at a party they both reluctantly, but fortunately, attended. At the time, Rich was in his first year of teaching. After an eight-month courtship, they were married that November at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Manhattan. While reflecting on those early years, Mary Jo shared, “I set my own ideas and standards and when I met Richard, we quickly knew we wanted the same thing; Richard’s family was a very big influence. They were very close, and I knew this was what I wanted…and I was lucky and very grateful.”
Shortly after marrying, they settled in Maine, first in Freeport and later in Alna on their small farm. While always a self-described “city girl,” Mary Jo ran the farm with grace and zeal – milking cows and goats and tossing hay down from the loft. Later, in Bath, while raising their six children, she and Richard owned a cookware store on Front Street. After five years, the business closed and Mary Jo embraced being a full-time, stay-at-home mother again, which included attending her children’s numerous wrestling, basketball, football, tennis, baseball, track, theater and karate events. Her children never ceased to amaze her. She was also a steadfast supporter and proud partner in her husband’s long teaching career.
When her children grew older, Mary Jo returned to work as an Executive Assistant in the Bowdoin College Alumni Office, where she worked for a number of years. Upon retirement, she and Rich moved to Harpswell and later to Brunswick, where they enjoyed many wonderful years together. They traveled frequently, including memorable trips to Ireland and England, numerous visits to Australia to see their son and his family, and relaxing train trips across the U.S. to visit their daughter and family in Denver.
Years later, Mary Jo and Richard acknowledged the delightful irony of two reluctant party-attendees, in a city of millions, experiencing a chance encounter, finding “love at first sight,” and enjoying sixty-three years of continued love.
Mary Jo is survived by her three sons and three daughters: Toby Maguire (Carol) of Duxbury, MA; Maura Maguire of Brunswick, ME; Nell Maguire (Jim Neill) of Denver, CO; Molly Maguire (Tim Solomon) of Bath, ME; Denis Maguire (Valerie) of Roseville, NSW, Australia; and Patrick Maguire (Erin) of Pelham, NY. She also leaves behind her cherished grandchildren: Chelsea and Denis Maguire; Maeghan and Molly Maguire; Kayla Neill; Hallie Solomon; Aidan, Rory, and Bridget Maguire; and Madeline, James, and William Maguire. She was also a proud great-grandmother to Romy Andersson (daughter of Chelsea and Matthias Andersson).
Mary Jo was predeceased by her beloved husband, Richard, her parents, and her sisters: Patricia, Margaret, Grace, and Annette.