Patrick Maguire

Patrick Maguire Of Falls Church, VA died peacefully the early morning of September 3, 2020 after a short battle with cancer and pneumonia. Patrick was born on March 7, 1928 on a farm outside Enniskillen County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

At age 16, he went to London in search of work. He immigrated to New York in September 1948. In 1950, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served his adopted country in the Korean War, where he earned a Purple Heart and an Oak Leaf Cluster for two different combat injuries. After returning from Korea, Pat set his sight on furthering his education. He graduated from New York University with honors in 1956, obtaining a B.S. degree in Accounting in 3 years while working part-time to support himself. In 1964, he took the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam and passed all four parts at one time. In 1972, he obtained a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the George Washington University. Pat worked for the U.S. General Accounting Office from September 1956 to his retirement in January 1987. He later worked for the House Appropriations Committee Surveys and Investigations staff from December 1988 to September 1994.

Pat met his wife Margaret (nee McKeon), an Irish immigrant from Drumlish, County Longford, in New York in 1958. They married on May 21, 1960 at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in the Bronx, NY. They lived in the Bronx, where their two daughters were born, until coming to Arlington, VA in 1963. They lived in Alexandria, VA for 10 years, where their three sons were born, before moving to Falls Church in 1975. Pat liked to fix old cars and make all types of repairs to the house. He often talked of growing up on the farm in Ireland and of being an “old country boy from the back of the bog.” In his later years, Pat and Margaret often attended family events, grandchildren’s sporting events and activities, and dinner out most Saturday nights at Ireland’s Four Provinces in Falls Church.

Pat is survived by Margaret, his beloved wife of 60 years; children Marie, Kathleen Storer (Joel), Kevin, Tom, and John (Tracy); grandchildren Bridget and Caroline Storer and Fiona, Ava, and Keira Maguire; brother Frank (Gloria) of Canada, sister Annie Corrigan of Fermanagh, brother-in-law John McKeon of New York, and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents Patrick and Mary (Sheridan), brothers Tommy and Jim and sister Mae Martin.

Visitation will be at Murphy Funeral Home, 1102 W. Broad St, Falls Church on Friday, September 11 from 5-8 pm. A Mass of Christian burial will be Saturday, September 12 at St. James Catholic Church, 905 Park Ave, Falls Church at 12 noon. Burial will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust at https://www.givedirect.org/donate/?cid=779 or St. James Catholic School Guardian Angel Scholarship Fund at https://membership.faithdirect.net/givenow/VA50/4197 or via check to St. James Catholic Church, with the memo line saying “Scholarship in memory of Patrick Maguire” mailed to Attn: Kathleen Anderson, St. James Catholic Church, 905 Park Ave, Falls Church, VA 22046.