Brenda Magri

Brenda Magri, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away on May 24, 2025, in Coppell, Texas. Brenda always provided an encouraging whisper in our ear, giving us the strength to never give up, a loving touch on our arm to let us know we will be ok, and a reminder that there is always someone in our corner. She left us with a grand story and a laugh that filled the soul, and a loving hug that will linger forever. That is exactly what Brenda gifted us all with her loving presence.

Brenda was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 26, 1935, to Irene (née Spellman) and Edward Barton. Family was everything to Brenda, and she was deeply committed to keeping her three older sisters, her husband's family, and her many nieces and nephews part of her life - whether that meant a day trip or a weeklong drive across the US. She was the soul and heart of her entire family.

A city girl, Brenda was born and raised in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston and graduated from Brighton High School. Brenda was well known for her vibrant personality, generous spirit, intelligent mind, witty humor, creativity and abundant talents in the arts. Brenda attended Boston University, then transferred to Fitchburg State University where she received a (B.A.) in Education. While attending Fitchburg State she fought for the veterans returning home from the Korean War to receive fair college fees at her university and she accomplished this noble endeavor. After graduating, she worked as an elementary school teacher in Boston, and worked summers at her parents' restaurant, The Dolphin, on Cape Cod. Brenda soon married her husband, John, who she met at the age of sixteen at a city dance - it was love at first sight. Her next great adventure was her lifelong, heartfelt dedication to her three children. Her love and support for them was boundless and one for the history books. Dream as big as you can imagine, she always told her children.

Brenda held a passion for people and a drive to serve her community, always humbly sharing her myriad of talents to enrich others' lives. She stood up for the underdog and shook things up for the better and did it with so much fun and grace. She shared her creative talents during her children's youth, creating a singing group for the Girl Scouts which performed at community events throughout Massachusetts. A foreshadowing of things to come, she wrote, directed, and produced an entire musical based on women in history, with an all-female youth cast. Her thousands of hours of volunteering in so many other arenas are far too numerous to list. In her forties Brenda went back to college at the University of Massachusetts Boston where she pursued her dream of a (B.A.) in Theater Arts. Her incredible writing skills led her to be selected for a prestigious summer long theater program on Nantucket, where numerous plays she had written were performed. After graduating, Brenda was offered a job at CBS Television Network in Boston. Once at CBS, Brenda worked for national news reporter Bill O'Reilly, as well as being the Associate Producer of the CBS "John F. Kennedy Assassination 20th Anniversary Documentary." While in Boston, she also created a documentary on women in the arts for a local cable station.

In the 1980s, Brenda and her husband John began their migration south to Dallas, Texas to be with their three children who had already made the journey. Once in Texas, Brenda's dedication to writing, directing, as well as education, flourished. She worked as a teacher at Rosemont Middle School in inner city Fort Worth, highlighting her always earnest and caring dedication to each of her students' success. Brenda's final and most beloved professional role was as a teacher with her husband John at the Crossroads High School in rural Burleson, TX, in their alternative education program. Sharing her educational skills as well as her artistic mind (Brenda's curriculum often encouraged the creation of plays and musicals), she helped her students be bold and dream big. She profoundly changed the lives of so many of her students during her years as a teacher. As one of her Crossroads students so eloquently wrote about Brenda, "She impacted my life in so many ways. I am forever grateful for her, and she meant so much to me and so many others. She is a legend. One of a kind."

Brenda is preceded by her loving husband, John Magri, whom she was infatuated with to the very end. Theirs was one of those rare relationships, where husband and wife were both strikingly attractive, intelligent, funny, and passionate about one another for all their days. Brenda is also survived by her three children, Brenda I. Magri, Aileen A. Ford, and John C. Magri, Jr., who she loved with all her heart, spent her entire life supporting, and shared joys and adventures with; her son-in-law Michael J. Ford and daughter-in-law Patricia A. Magri, who she loved like her own; her six grandchildren, Austin M. Ford, Madison A. Ford, Mia A. Ford, Zoie R. Magri, Jet J. Magri, and Colt J. Magri, who she poured all of her love and time and wisdom into; her three cherished older sisters who preceded her, Renee Smith, Joan Grady, and Maureen Blando; and many nieces and nephews throughout the country. Brenda shared her life with an incredible sense of humor, profound generosity and infinite love, and her light is still glowing in all of us.

Brenda was a beautiful soul who touched more people and changed more lives than she will ever know. Her beautiful blue, twinkling Irish eyes smiled on us all with so much joy, and filled us with enough love to last a lifetime. Brenda gave us hope and love and her magic to take with us, and for that we are forever grateful.

A memorial service will be held at St. Ann Catholic Church (St. Kilian Chapel), Coppell, Texas on Monday, June 9th, at 2:30 pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Tunnel to Towers (t2t.org) or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (stjude.org), both Brenda's favorites.