Mary Louise O'Neill

Mary Louise grew up in the Rockhill neighborhood near the Nelson Gallery and was educated at the St. Francis Xavier Elementary and St. Teresa’s Academy in Kansas City, and Webster College in St. Louis. A witty, funny, free-spirited girl, she road-tripped to California in the early 1960s with her friend Mary Ellen O’Keefe. Mary (“Wheezie”) O’Neill ended up moving to colorful San Francisco, where she reveled in the avant-garde social scene, liberal politics and the attendant activism. She joined the staff of U.S. Representative Pete McCloskey and worked alongside many other young Democrats, including her later idol, Nancy Pelosi,

After some 40 years, Mary returned to Kansas City, where she put her quick mind and her family’s love of card games (especially poker) to work dealing cards at the Argosy Casino.

Mary was predeceased by her parents and her seven siblings: Peggy Loschke Tener, Jean Anderson Miller, Janet Locke, Pat O’Neill, Sr., Katie O’Neill, Martha Mertz and Ann Gillespie. She leaves many nieces and nephews and their children. Special thanks go to Julie O’Neill and the staff at Anthology Assisted Living and Memory Care on the Plaza for taking such good care of Mary in her declining years, and for the usual caring services provided by our long-time family friends, the McGilleys. Mary requested there be no service.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.mcgilleymidtownchapel.com for the O'Neill family.