Margaret Veronica McDermott

Margaret Veronica Walsh McDermott Thousand Oaks California Margaret McDermott passed away in her home surrounded by family on Thursday, March 7, 2013. She was 94. Margaret was born on born May 18, 1918 In New York City. Her father was Michael Walsh. She lived with her father and two sisters, Molly and Linda until the age 5. At that time, her father sent Margaret and her two sisters to live in Tubbercurry (the second largest city) in County Sligo, Ireland to live with her Aunt Belinda on the family farm. She cherished her time and experiences in Ireland but her father restricted her from Gaelic lessons, he did not want the girls to come back with an accent. Curiosity would get the best of them. Margaret and her sisters would occasionally sneak into classes or sit outside to see if they could eavesdrop on some of the lessons. It was not until much later did Margaret learn that her father supported the entire town financially during one of their hardest economic times. He was one of the key reasons they were able to survive. At age 17, Margaret and her two sisters returned to New York City to live with her their father. The three sisters meet three Irish guys from New York City, but Margaret had already met a nice service man named, Tommy. Tommy asked Margaret’s father if they could be wed in Washington DC with other service couples. He refused Tommy permission because he wanted all of his daughters to get married in the Catholic Church. She played by" the rules" so she did what her dad wanted her to do. She then moved to West Los Angeles to be near her two sisters, they had relocated to the west coast. Every Friday night she would get on a bus with a bag of groceries and deliver them to her sister Molly living in Griffith Park in military housing. She would then transfer to another bus to Panorama city to spend the rest of the weekend with her other sister Linda. Margaret, while proven to be respectful and obedient, did get her way on many occasions. One of those occasions was as a bank employee. She forced her boss to give her sister Molly a loan on their first house and as well as the down payment for a VA loan. She did threaten her boss that she would quit if she didn’t get her way. Margaret did get her way. To repay Margaret for facilitating the loan on the house, her sister Molly tricked her into a blind date with an Irish gentleman by the name of Arthur McDermott, one of the three Irish men she had met in New York 10 years prior. Arthur was not going to let her get away this time, he proposed 6 months later. Soon after they married Arthur picked out a nice house they could afford in Santa Monica with the money she had saved and was given by her father. Not wanting to rock the boat she went along to see the house but admitted that she didn't want to live in that area, she wanted to be closer to her sisters. They drove around and found a tract home in Van Nuys. The salesman knew Arthur from a business connection, bumped another deposit off the house they bought on 7917 Varna Avenue. They lived there until 1978. They had 4 children Helene, Maureen, Michael and Harry. They then moved to Thousand Oaks. Margaret would say that the green hills reminded her of Ireland. They loved the city and were very happy to move from Los Angeles County. Margaret’s greatest source of comfort was her faith in the Catholic Church. She received great joy from her immediate family, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She enjoyed drives along the beach. She was preceded in death by her daughter Maureen and her husband Arthur McDermott. She is survived by her daughter Helene McDermott, sons Michael and Harry (Dannelle) McDermott. Her grandchildren, Joshua (Kirsten), Tyler, Holly and her many loving nieces and nephews, Pat, Bob, Kerry & Kevin Courtney, Dennis Reid, Madeline Morandini and Noel Siart. Assisting the family with Funeral Arrangements is the Perez Family Funeral Home located at 1347 Del Norte Road, Camarillo, CA 93010. Tel: 983-3457 Services will be held on Wednesday March 13, 2013 at St Julie Billiart Church 2475 Borchard Road Newbury Park, CA 91320. Vigil will be held at 10am followed by the funeral Mass at 11am. Burial will be held at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo.