Livier Alvarez McGee

1928 - 2016

Livier Alvarez Lili' McGee March 19, 1928 - December 15, 2016 Encinitas Lili McGee, 88, died at home in Encinitas on Thursday, December 15, 2016. Her death was caused by recently diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia.Lili was born to Luz Maria Padilla and Matias Alvarez Escoto in San Juan de Los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico, in 1928 and, as an infant, immigrated to the US. She married Thomas F. McGee in 1957 in Chicago, and together they had four daughters. Thomas is a Korean War Army veteran. The family relocated to North San Diego County from Chicago in 1972.Lili worked as Secretary to the head of the Surgical Department for The University of Chicago until the birth of her first daughter. She passionately believed in many causes and spent countless hours as a volunteer, including involvement in the organization of the Grape Picker's Union during the sixties, and working as a medical translator at Project Concern's Cancer Detection Clinic in Tijuana. She was incredibly supportive of Tom's career as a clinical psychologist and professor. They enjoyed traveling together, both business related and with the entire family. Lili loved music, art, and good food. An accomplished Mexican chef, she threw legendary parties, whether it was a family Christmas replete with tamales, a piata party for a child's birthday, or a celebration for Tom's psychology interns. Their house was filled with laughter.Lili shared her love of her native Mexico with her husband and daughters, and occasionally recited Mexican poetry. On every family birthday, Tom and Lili serenaded their daughters with Lili on the guitar singing "Las Maanitas". She initiated family trips to Mexico and was filled with pride as she showed off various historical sites and museums as well as cathedrals. She enjoyed classical music, including works by Mozart, Rossini, Puccini, Beethoven, Bach, Schubert, Schumann, and Mexican folk music. Her favorite artists were Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, and Lola Beltran. She and Tom enjoyed the opera and the symphony and their daughters were indoctrinated into a world of music early.She loved her children very much. She was a constant role model in their lives. Lili and Tom often visited their daughters and grandchildren who lived out of state. In her role as "Grandma Lili", she was treated as a friend, co-conspirator, elder stateswoman and trusted confidante. She continued to be a dear friend to Tom's former students, who visited often.Lili is survived by her loving and beloved husband of nearly 60 years, Thomas F. McGee, daughters Joan (Richard) Qualls, Diana McGee, Paula (Paul) McGee Woods, and Maria (Sunny) Al-Shamma, as well as grandchildren Mari, Sandy and Ben Guttman, Anthony and Susanna Riehm, Gabi, Eisa, and Felice Al-Shamma, and Liliama Woods. She is also survived by her sister Raquel Alvarez Campos in Mexico City and many nieces and nephews, including Laura Montealegre. She was predeceased by her parents, Luz Maria and Matias, and siblings Nazaria, Juan Manuel, Carmen Graciela, Juan Manuel II, Concepcion, Roberto and Berta. She leaves behind a host of dear friends and will be greatly missed.In service to others to the end, Lili chose to donate her body for medical research. The family plans to hold a memorial service and commitment of her ashes at a future date.In lieu of flowers, Lili asked that contributions be made to Community Resource Center, 650 Second Street, Encinitas, CA 92024, (760) 230-6307, crcncc.org; Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, 1075 Camino del Rio S, San Diego, CA 92108, plannedparenthood.org; and the North County LGBTQ Resource Center, 3220 Mission Avenue Suite 2, Oceanside CA 92058, (760) 994-1690, ncresourcecenter.org