Margaret Kenney McSweeney

1923 - 2016

Margaret Kenney McSweeney

1923 - 2016

In the Hollywood Riviera home where, for the past 60 years, she lived, loved, laughed, raised her children, welcomed friends and celebrated many milestones, Peggy McSweeney died on March 16, 2016. She was 92.
Born Margaret Kenney in Philadelphia on May 5, 1923, she was the oldest of Joseph and Helen Kenney's four children. She was in the first graduating class of the nursing school at Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital in Darby, Pennsylvania, receiving her R. N. in 1944. In 1947, she moved to Los Angeles and married John ("Jack") Fleming McSweeney, a film editor at MGM Studios. They moved to Redondo Beach in 1956.
Peg and Jack were married 52 years, until his death in 1999. They were the parents of six children, Maureen Gill of Torrance; Jack McSweeney of Redondo Beach; Michael McSweeney of Tacoma, WA; Meg McSweeney of Washington Crossing, PA; Colleen McSweeney of Manhattan Beach; and Erin McSweeney of Palm Springs, all of whom survive their mother. Peg is also survived by her sister, Jane Kenney of Selbyville, DE; beloved sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; grandchildren and step-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
In Los Angeles she nursed at St. Vincent's and St. John's Hospitals before becoming a mother. After her children were grown, she returned to nursing on private duty cases. As a founding parishioner of St. Lawrence Martyr in Redondo Beach, she was a tireless volunteer at both the church and school. She established the "Health Room," at St. Lawrence School, marshalling the mothers with nursing backgrounds to fulfill the role of school nurse on a cooperative basis, and overseeing health and wellness programs at the school. In the 1980s, she and some girlfriends from the parish started the "Care" program that provided services, friendship and fellowship to the senior citizens of the parish. Later (and until just a few years ago) she volunteered at Providence Little Company of Mary Hospital, making "Care Calls" to check on recently discharged patients who live alone. She has been a dedicated member of the St. Lawrence Ladies Guild for sixty years, even volunteering to host the February 2016 meeting at her home.
As her health began to fail and she entered hospice care last year, Peggy wanted her friends and family to know that she led a wonderful life that was beyond the wildest dreams of a Depression era kid from Philly. She had a long marriage to a glamorous guy, and raised six kids who, in answer to her daily prayer, grew up "happy, healthy and morally good." She met movie stars and traveled the world. She believed in the healing power of laughter, the therapeutic value of fun, and she had a lot of laughs and lots of fun and many cups of coffee and glasses of wine around her kitchen table with her many cherished friends.
A private committal service took place at Holy Cross Mausoleum. Friends are invited to join the McSweeney family for a Memorial Mass offered at St. Lawrence Martyr on Friday, April 1, 2016 at 3:00 PM, followed by a celebration of Peg McSweeney's life in the St. Lawrence Parish Hall.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (secure online donation can be made via http://giftfunds.stjude.org/McSweeney, or mailed to 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105), or to Providence Little Company of Mary Foundation (4101 Torrance Boulevard, Torrance, CA 90503). Please sign the guestbook at www.dailybreeze.com/obits.