Clara McGinnity

Waunakee-Clara (Doyle) McGinnity passed away on Monday Feb 28, 2011 at the Don & Marilyn Anderson Hospice Care Center in Fitchburg. Born to Swiss immigrants, Walter and Bertha Luethy, on Sept. 26, 1922 in Avon, IL. She was raised in Mount Vernon while her father was a cheesemaker at the Harker Cheese Factory. She was very proud of her Swiss   Heritage and enjoyed music with yodeling and polkas. She married Robert Doyle in 1941 and they lived in Madison where they had four children. Robert died in 1965 and she later married another ""Irishman"" Thomas McGinnity in 1972 and he preceded her in death in 2004. With this union they now had nine children to love and cherish. They enjoyed 32 years of a wonderful marriage with love, laughter and family until Thomas's death. She retired from AAA as a bookkeeper in 1986. Clara was a gifted crochet ""master""- dubbed by some as the ""crochet monster"". She made endless afghans over the years for family and friends and in her retirement years made baby afghans and layettes for the Wauna-makers so they could be donated to those in need. She was a thoughtful, caring and non-judge-mental lady who was always thinking of others. Clara was an excellent cook and baker who always was ready for you to come and feast at her table, whether it was Sunday dinner or any one of the holidays. It was amazing the huge feasts Clara could create coming out of small kitchen in their home on the north side of Madison or their home in Waunakee, sometimes for 30 plus people. She and Tom played a lot of euchre and loved to have people in or travel to local tournaments. She loved their annual vacation up to Hayward with the blended family. She was also known to travel to the local casino to try out her luck on one of the slot machines. One of her favorite memories was their annual month long vacation out west, once they retired. Survivors include her four children, Fred (Cheryl) Doyle of Florida, James (Lynne) Doyle of Cottage Grove, Mary (Roger) Kurzawa of Kennewick,WA and Debi (Dave) Pesch of New Glarus; five step-children, James (Jackie) McGinnity of Waunakee, Kay (Ron) Haack of Spokane, WA, Pat McGinnity of Lake Wisconsin, Mike (Donna) McGinnity of DeForest and Mark (Susie) McGinnity of DeForest; 15 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; a brother-in-law Bill Doyle, and sisters-in-law Audrey Luethy, Genevieve Conley and Mary Mcginnity and many nieces and nephews. Clara was preceded in death by her parents, both husbands, a baby brother Walter Luethy; and baby sister Anna Gempler-Ingwell; sister-in-law Mary Pearson, brothers-in-law Leo Gempler, Marsh Ingwell, Paul McGinnity and Pat Conley. Funeral services will be held on Sat., March 5, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. at St John's Catholic Church, 209 South St., Waunakee. Msgr. James Gunn will officiate. Friends may call at the church on Sat. from 9:30 a.m. until the time of services. Burial will take place at Resurrection Cemetery in Madison at 2:30 p.m. on Sat. The family would like to thank the staff at Care Wisconsin. A special thank you to Girlie's Manor in Mt Horeb, the assisted living where Clara lived the last four years. The care, compassion and dignity she received were outstanding, while still allowing her to feel independent. The whole staff made her last four years so much better. We would also like to thank Hospice Care Inc. in Fitchburg for their outstanding care these last few months, especially these last couple weeks. Again the gift of honor, respect and dignity was priceless. Thank you all. ""Mom was so compassionate and loving and we will miss her dearly""                           

Winn-Cress Funeral Home