Kingsbridge Library fixture Margaret McGrory, 94

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Margaret McGrory, 94, died peacefully in her Marble Hill home of 58 years on March 25, 2017.

She is survived by her brother Seamus in Ireland; her daughters Anne Hofmann and Mary O’Neill; sons Liam, Eugene and Kevin; grandsons Dennis, Philip, Stephen, Harry and Eamonn, granddaughters Christine and Kaitlyn; and great-grandson Shane. She was preceeded in death by her husband Laurence and son Philip.

Born in County Donegal, Ireland, on Aug. 20, 1922, she arrived in New York in 1948. After raising six children, she worked at Kingsbridge Library. 

She loved working at the library, and it was an important part of her life for 25 years. She made new friends, read the latest books, and talked with readers about her favorite authors over the desk as she checked books in and out.

She was promoted to senior clerk and then clerical supervisor for the branches in the Northwest Bronx. 

She enjoyed learning new skills, embraced automation, and taught computer and automated circulation skills to library staff when the New York Public Library entered this new technological era.

She and her husband Laurence returned many times over the years to Ireland with their children, and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary there in what turned out to be a family reunion with more than 200 guests from the United States, Europe and Australia. 

Margaret McGrory,