Margaret Mary Skelly died peacefully with family at her side on July 27, 2026. She was 90 years old.

Margaret was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan on December 30, 1935. (Her mother

Alice Schumann insisted the nurse had gotten the date wrong and Margaret was

actually born on New Year’s Eve.) Marge and her brother Bud grew up in Detroit with

their father Bill Hurley and stepmother Mae.

After graduating from St. Bernard’s High School in 1952, Margaret attended St.

Joseph’s Nursing School (now part of University of Detroit Mercy). She completed her

studies in 1956 and became a Registered Nurse (R.N.) in 1957.

While in nursing school, Margaret was courted by Jerome P Skelly. Because Jerry had

been drafted and assigned to what was then Fort Benning in Columbus, GA, he asked

Margaret to wait for him. She did and they were married at St Luke’s Catholic Church on

May 2, 1957.

Margaret purchased a used mobile home in Detroit and she and Jerry towed it to

Columbus, Georgia to serve as their first home. Because the base commander at Fort

Benning would not permit enlisted men’s wives to work on base, Margaret applied for a

job at the municipal hospital in Columbus. She was assigned to the Emergency Room

(ER) (which had been her least favorite rotation in nursing school).

The experience of working in a public hospital in the Jim Crow South informed

Margaret’s sense of justice for the rest of her life. She made a point of treating all her

patients as individuals with dignity, specifically by referring to them as Mr or Mrs rather

than simply by their first names, despite being directed to accord less respect and

attention to her black patients by the head nurse in the ER.

Marge & Jerry’s first child Shawn Elizabeth was born while they were in Georgia. When

Jerry’s enlistment was up, the family returned to Michigan. Sons Jerome & Timothy

joined the family in quick succession. While Jerry went to school full-time to get his

Ph.D., Margaret worked two jobs: morning shift as an industrial nurse at an auto plant

and afternoon shift as head nurse in the ER at St. John’s Hospital in Harper Woods

(including during the 1967 riots in Detroit).

Marge, Jerry, and the three children left Michigan for the Washington, D.C. area in 1968.

Northern Virginia would be their home for the next 52 years until they moved to Florida

in early 2020 at the height of Covid.

This Virginia chapter of Margaret’s life involved multiple moves until she and Jerry

settled in Yacht Haven near George Washington’s Mt. Vernon home in the late 1970s.

They lived there for more than 30 years.

Margaret loved art, movies, books, and music. Her book club had been going strong for

more than 35 years when Marge & Jerry moved to Florida during Covid in early 2020.

She shared her love of reading with her first two grandchildren, starting a tradition of

giving them a pair of new pajamas and a book to open on Christmas Eve. When Marge

couldn’t carry on the tradition anymore, Rachael and Emma picked it up and made sure

their grandmother had new cozy PJs every Christmas Eve.

Marge was happiest when there was beautiful music playing, particularly Andrea

Bocelli. As her dementia worsened and she became more anxious, a sure way to

soothe her was to play a Bocelli video and let the music wash over her. Marge was

thrilled when her grandson Tim became a musician. She loved listening to him

whenever he visited and was proud and impressed by the many instruments he picked

up and taught himself to play.

Swimming was a constant theme in the Skelly family. Jerome & Tim ran a pool company

in the summers and coached the Mount Vernon swim team. All three kids swam

competitively in middle and high school. Tim truly excelled in the sport. Later, Marge and

Jerry loved watching Tim’s daughter Erica forge her own competitive swimming path

and called for updates whenever she was racing.

Starting in their fifties, Marge & Jerry became global travelers. Their first big trip was to

visit Jerome in Germany where he studied for a year. Over the years they traveled with

family, Yacht Haven friends, and for Jerry’s job. They went all over Europe (including to

Bosnia and Turkey), to Egypt, Sudan, and Japan. They found some of Marge’s Irish

relatives in the small town of Ballyheigue, Co. Kerry, Ireland.

Marge loved being around people. There were parties for grown-up friends and board

games or tea parties with Sprite for young friends. She knew how to throw a party, but

wasn’t very good at leaving them. Jerry was often heard to say, “Come on, Marge,”

multiple times when trying to get her to head home from the Yacht Club or a neighbor’s

home.

Family, biological and found, was the most important thing in Margaret’s life. Her

childhood had been difficult and she hoped to create something better for her children

and grandchildren. She and Jerry were incredibly proud of their three children (Shawn,

Jerome, and TIm) and their four grandchildren (Rachael, Emma, Tim, and Erica). The

occasions when the whole family was together were the highlights of their days:

Snoqualmie, Tahoe, their 50th anniversary party, Christmas at Greenspring.

With Shawn, Jerome, and Tim grown and far away, Marge & Jerry’s neighbors and the

Mt Vernon Yacht Club community became their local family; neighbors’ children became

ersatz grandchildren (some of whom adopted Marge & Jerry as official grandparents).

The move to Florida was difficult for Marge because it uprooted her from that found

family precisely at the time she sensed her brain was failing her. She was blessed to

find new family in the person of Tiphaney Wilson who cared for her for more than five

years, through her last year living at home with Jerry, to some years in assisted living,

and finally Memory Care. Tiphaney and her colleagues, particularly Voilet Cole-Pearce

and Aldoreen Ricketts, have been angels on earth, helping the family keep Marge safe,

secure, and loved. Marge’s family would also like to thank the staff at Zon Beachside,

particularly Miracle Doane, Meghan Viegas, Peggy Smith, Henry Goodman, Diane

Falvey, Sam Kozmick, and the entire Memory Care team for their loving attention and

care. In recent months, Robin Kropf and Mederi Hospice joined Team Margaret and

made life better for Marge and all who loved her.

Marge is survived by her three beloved children Shawn LeValley (Michael), Jerome

Walsh Skelly (Kerry), and Timothy Skelly; her four grandchildren Rachael & Emma

LeValley and Timothy and Erica Skelly; her sister Diana Christopher, niece and nephew

Aryn & Ian Hood; nieces Jamie Buck and Dorian Hurley; brother and sister-in-law Ryan

and Leann Skelly and their children Ryan Jr (Tiffany), Michael (Carol), and Mary

Zarvalas (Tash); and nieces and nephews, Chris Chitwood, Patricia Dee, Rick Dee, and

Albert Dee and many cousins. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Jerome P. Skelly.

Memorial Donations may be made to the Nursing School at Eastern Florida

State College, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or the hospice of your choice.