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Mae McGee RIP
The death has taken place of Mae McGee,
Aras Bhride and formerly Altavra.
Mae died in the Regional Hospital on Monday, 7th October.
Mary Catherine McGee, better known to everybody as Mae Mcgee, was born in March 1925,
the
eldest child of the three children born to
John and Catherine McGee of Altavra.
Mae
had a sister Anne and a brother Pat.
When Mae was only 10 years old her father John died.
She then had to help her mother
in raising Anne and Pat,
and in working around the house and on the farm.
She kept
her house spotless and tidy.
And, on the land, she looked after the cattle and the
sheep,
she saved the hay and she drew water from the well.
She was a lady who was full
of energy, full of enthusiasm for life.
May was a lady of great goodness and great generosity.
She looked after and cared
for the members of her family.
She was also very good to her neighbours, especially
to anyone in trouble.
She was always there to lend a helping hand.
She brought great energy and enthusiasm into everything she did.
She had an energetic
walk and a lengthy stride.
She put great energy into her work.
And she put great energy
into the welcome she extended to all who called at her house.
Her smile was warm and
bright and her handshake was firm and strong.
Her welcome was genuine and her hospitality
was straight from the heart.
Mae had a great interest in all aspects of life.
She kept herself abreast of current
affairs, local, national and global.
She was an avid read of the Leitrim Observer
and she kept herself up-
in national and international affairs through the
radio and the TV news.
She loved to watch TV, especially the quiz programmes and the
Late Late Show.
She also enjoyed the challenge of crosswords and puzzles.
May lived almost all of her life in the family home in Altavra.
She delighted in living
in the countryside, with all its sights and sounds.
And she delighted in having her
neighbours and friends around her.
In recent years, however, she decided to leave
her home in Altavra
and to move into the then St Brigid’s Hostel, now Aras Bhride,
in Drumkeeran.
She quickly settled in, and became a great friend to her fellow residents
and
to the members of the staff.
And, at the heart of Mae’s enthusiasm for life was her deep faith.
And at the heart
of that deep faith was her Sunday Mass
and her prayer life, a prayer life centred
on the Rosary.
Mae’s faith was essentially a very practical faith,
a down-
and a faith that greatly supported her
when her mother died in 1975
and again when her brother Pat died in 1995.
Over recent weeks Mae’s health began to decline
and she was admitted to the Regional
Hospital in Sligo.
It was there that she died on Monday, 7th October.
We extend our sympathy to her sister Anne (Dungannon),
to her nieces Helen and Mary
and to her nephews Frank and Gerry,
and to their extended families.
Mae’s funeral took place on Wednesday, 9th October, in Creevelea Church.
After the Mass, she was laid to rest in the family plot in Drumkeeran cemetery.