Margaret Roper McGinn

1925 - 2021

Margaret "Margot" Roper McGinn died peacefully among loving family, friends, and neighbors on October 5, 2021, at Ochsner Baptist Memorial Center in New Orleans, just two weeks short of her 96th birthday. Despite her advanced age, Margot worked as sacramental records coordinator at Holy Name of Jesus Parish Church until the week before her death. She was born to Marie Germaine Jeanniot Roper and Daniel Calhoun Roper, Jr., on October 17, 1925, in Miami, FL. Five years later, she moved to New Orleans with her late parents and her late older sisters – Marie-Louise (Roper) Daste and Madeleine Virginia Roper – where she lived Uptown at Pine Court Apartments on Pine Street. Except for her early married years, Margot lived on Pine Street, earning the title "Queen of Pine Street" from her ever-attentive neighbors. A lifelong devotee to French language and culture, she often remarked that she learned French before English from her French mother and spoke French more than English in the family home with her mother and sisters. Margot attended Audubon Elementary School and later Holy Name of Jesus Elementary School and Holy Name of Jesus High School. Upon graduation, she received a scholarship to Saint Mary's Dominican College, from which she received an associate degree. She retained a close connection to the college throughout her life, serving in various roles in the college's alumnae association, for which she was made a lifetime member in 2019. After various accountancy and secretarial positions in the city, including accounting work for Shell Oil Co., she returned to her studies at Tulane University, from which she was awarded a bachelor's degree in Commercial Science in 1959 and membership of Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society. She was married to the late Gerard "Gerry" Francis McGinn on April 8, 1961, in Holy Name of Jesus Church. As soon as their only child, Paul, was able to attend school, Margot returned to work, focusing largely on preparing tax accounts for law and real estate firms in the city. Margot never retired, choosing instead to apply her talent for numbers and organization to a new career. She began working as sacramental records coordinator at Holy Name Church in her early eighties after she cared for her late husband during his extended Parkinson's disease. After Gerry died in 2006, she remarked that, "The church has been my second family." For her long-time service to Holy Name of Jesus Parish she was recognized with the Order of Saint Louis IX Medallion. Margot also actively participated in a number of cultural, welfare, and charitable organizations, including the Sodality of the Children of Mary of the Sacred Heart, Les Causeries du Lundi, and the Louisiana Historical Society. Throughout her life and in the many relationships she fostered, she committed herself to the principles of the "Serenity Prayer":
God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace, Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that He will make all things right If I surrender to His will,That I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen. Whenever she met challenges throughout her life, she was resolute that God had a plan for her and would often remark, "The Lord will provide." And He did, most often through her family, friends and Pine Street neighbors, whom she lovingly and collectively referred to as "My Angels." Margot is survived by her son, Paul Roper McGinn, who lives in Ireland with his wife Margo O'Neill and their three children: Ursula, Dervla, and Eoin. The grandchildren lovingly knew Margot as "G-Mom," and travelled with their parents each year from Ireland to celebrate Christmas with her and the extended family in New Orleans. She is also survived by: four nephews, Dale, Daniel, Joel, and Craig Daste; one niece, Michele Daste-Walters Garrot; and numerous grandnieces and grandnephews. She was preceded in death by niece Valerie (Daste) Andrews and nephew Barry Daste. Family, friends, neighbors, and fellow church members are invited to attend the funeral Mass at 11 a.m. this Tuesday, October 12, 2021, at Most Holy Name of Jesus Church, 6367 Saint Charles Ave., New Orleans, 70118. Visitation begins at 10 a.m. in the church. Graveside service to follow at Metairie Lake Lawn Cemetery, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., New Orleans, 70124. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Holy Name of Jesus Parish Endowment Fund for Justice and Outreach. Due to COVID-19, all attendees are requested to wear a mask and practice social distancing.