Mary "Donahue" Elizabeth Marshall

Mrs. Mary Elizabeth (Donahue) Marshall, of Kansas City, Missouri, devout Catholic, forever Irish, Mother, business woman, marathoner, voracious reader and lover of life, passed into eternal life March 27, 2013 at age 90. Born January 17, 1923, in Kansas City to Robert Emmett and Mary Josephine Donahue of County Kerry, Ireland, she was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph Quentin Marshall, and by her brothers Thomas, Robert, and John Donahue. She is survived by seven children, Barbara Bloomstran (Ronald), Mary Patricia, Joseph “Duke” (Janis), Marcie, JoAnne “Jody”, Quentin (Leslie), and Michael (Suzi); ten grandchildren and known to her ten great-grandchildren simply as “Great”.

Mary studied at Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas and completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in Business Administration and Finance at Northwestern University in Chicago. She began her career at Midwest Research Institute as assistant to Dr. Charles Kimball. Mary then trailblazed as the first Kansas City woman to work as a securities broker in 1960, beginning a 27-year career on Wall Street. She retired as Vice President with Shearson Lehman Brothers.

While managing a busy career, she independently raised and cared for seven children, providing for parochial educations at Visitation School, St. Theresa’s Academy, and Rockhurst High School. Her children attained myriad undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees. Visitation Parish was always her home.

Taking up marathons at 49, she ran New York, Avon Chicago, Pike’s Peak, Marine Corps, and Bay to Breakers, among many others; she overcame a fear of the water by teaching herself to swim at 63. She loved tennis and lived yoga.

Mary served on countless charitable and not-for-profit boards. Her volunteer passions included the American Heart Institute and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. She was a Daughter of the American Revolution.

Ireland was her heritage. Catholicism was her faith. Norte Dame was her religion. Of all of her accomplishments in a long, rich life, Mom was most proud of her family. Goodnight all you Greats.

Visitation will be Saturday morning March 30 from 9:00 to 10:00 am. A prayer service will begin at 10:00 a.m., immediately followed by a Sharing of Life. The Visitation, Prayer Service and Sharing of Life will all be held at McGilley Funeral Home; 12301 State Line Road; Kansas City, Missouri 64145