Mary Margaret was born December 27, 1913, in Seattle to John & Gretchen McGinnis.  Her family moved to Ballard in 1923 when her father won a car in a raffle and they sold it and used the money to put a down payment on a house in Ballard.

Mary was the oldest of three children.  Mary and her two sisters, Helen and Rita, attended St. Alphonsus Elementary School.  They went on to attend Holy Angels High School and Mary graduated in 1932.  Since money was scarce because of the depression, Mary decided she needed to develop a skill and attended classes at Edison Technical School on Capitol Hill. 

Mary was married to Harold Fisher on February 8, 1941, in the old St. Alphonsus church.  She worked at the Bremerton Naval Shipyard, resigning just prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, as she was expecting her first child, Jim, in February 1942.  Shortly thereafter they bought a piece of property in Ballard and had their home built.  Their three daughters, Jean, Carole and Patricia were all born in the 1940’s.  All four children attended St. Alphonsus Elementary school.  Jim graduated from Blanchet High School, and the girls graduated from Holy Angels High School. 

A few years later when their family was raised they took yearly vacations including several trips to Disneyland.  In 1974, they took a Greyhound bus across the country and saw America, the land they loved.  In 1985 a couple of years before Harold passed away, they took a memorable trip to Hawaii with Mary’s sister and brother-in-law, Rita and Wilbur Elslip. They all had a wonderful time.

Mary lost her husband, Harold, of 46 years on July 5, 1987, and she continued to live in the family home in Ballard for the next 12 years.  She loved to travel to San Diego to visit her daughter, Patricia, and made several trips, sometimes with her sister, Rita. 

She remained active during those 12 years, attending church regularly, taking the bus to Ballard and downtown Seattle, and always attending all the family celebrations.  Mary, her daughter-in-law and Florence, a dear friend, used to get together once a week and attend the daily mass at Sacred Heart near the Seattle Center.  Mary would always stop by the office and pick up Mass cards for her family and friends.   At the suggestion of Florence, Mary joined the Legion of Mary.  She prayed the rosary daily and visited Catholic parishioners that were confined to their homes due to an illness or disability.   She always enjoyed getting together with her friends from St. Alphonsus, and she kept in touch for years with many of her friends from school. 

In November 1999, she moved to an assisted living apartment in the Foss Home and Village in Greenwood.  She always participated in the many activities and made a lot of new friends including the dedicated and hard-working staff.  They loved her and she loved them back.   She always looked forward to the times when her son and daughter-in-law would pick her and her sister up to attend Sunday mass at St. Alphonsus.  Even when she had to use a walker and her steps were slow she loved going back to her church, the church she grew up attending, married her husband in, baptized her children in, saw them married in, and buried her husband in.  She was a member of St. Alphonsus parish for 82 years.  As frail as she was she always stood up to receive communion and it always amazed us how she would always be ready to go no matter how she felt.  After church we always went to Vera’s in Ballard for breakfast.  All of us always ordered waffles, so we became known as the waffle people at Vera’s.  They always knew what we would order, so it didn’t take long for us to get our breakfast.  We would sit and talk about religion, politics, and share recent pictures of the grandchildren.  Rain or shine it didn’t matter.  That was our morning to enjoy together.    She attended Sunday mass at St. Alphonsus for the last time in April of this year. 

She was very proud of her great grandchildren and loved when they came to visit with pictures they colored to hang on her door.   She always placed them on the outside of the door so all her friends in the village could see.  She lived in the village until 3 months ago when her failing health made it necessary to move to the Foss Nursing Home.  Mary passed away Wednesday, August 10, at the age of 91.  She was much loved by everyone who knew her, and will be missed by all.