Dorothy N. McMahon
CHELMSFORD Dorothy N. (Wentworth) McMahon, 92, of Chelmsford, passed away Friday, April 3, 2015, at Lowell General Hospital. Known by all as Norma, she was the wife of the late Arthur P. McMahon with whom she had shared 63 years of marriage before his death in 2013.
Born April 4, 1922, in Lynn, Norma was a daughter of the late Herbert Wentworth and the late Gladys (Morine) Coughlin. As a young girl, she moved to Lowell with her mother and her beloved stepfather, the late Ralph Coughlin. She graduated from Lowell High School.
Norma resided in Lowell with her husband. For many years, she worked as a medical secretary at Lowell General Hospital and as the secretary of the North Middlesex Medical Society.
She cherished time spent with family, and especially loved playing with her grandchildren. She enjoyed painting, nature, growing plants and flowers, and animals, especially birds and dogs. She was a member of the Audubon Society for many years.
At the age of 85, Norma had to begin learning how to cope with the early stages of memory loss. She attended adult day health services at The Community Family in Lowell, where she enjoyed herself and learned how to continue to communicate with grace. She and her husband later moved to assisted living in Chelmsford, where she continued to reside after his death.
She is survived by her son, John McMahon and his wife, Susan, of Windham, NH; her daughter, Gayle Thiel and her husband, Jay, of Townsend; her grandchildren, Katie Porter and her husband, Richard, of Dover, NH, and Allison Thiel and Graham Thiel, both of Townsend; her sisters, Virginia MacLean of Lowell and Jean McPadden of Enterprise, Alabama; her sister in law, Rosemary McMahon of Lowell; and several nieces and nephews, including her niece Donna Sherman of Lowell, with whom she was very close.
She was also the sister in law of the late Jean Webster and the late Robert McMahon.
YOU ARE INVITED TO HER CALLING HOURS FROM 8:30 UNTIL 9:30 A.M. ON THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 9, AT THE MCDONOUGH FUNERAL HOME, 14 HIGHLAND STREET, LOWELL, 978-458-6816. HER FUNERAL WILL BEGIN AT 9:30 A.M. AT THE FUNERAL HOME. HER FUNERAL MASS WILL BE OFFERED AT ST. MARGARET CHURCH, 374 STEVENS ST., LOWELL, AT 10:30 A.M., FOLLOWED BY BURIAL WITH HER HUSBAND IN ST. PATRICK CEMETERY. MEMORIALS IN HER NAME TO MASS AUDUBON, DEVELOPMENT OFFICE, 208 SOUTH GREAT ROAD, LINCOLN, MA 01773.
