Marjorie Cashman Gallagher

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — Marjorie Cashman Gallagher, of Holly Hill, FL, a former nun and retired real estate agent, died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, at Halifax Hospital Hospice. Mrs. Gallagher had recently celebrated her 100th birthday with nieces and nephews and friends at a local restaurant.

Mrs. Gallagher was born Marjorie Cashman on Dec. 18, 1923, in Owatonna, Minn., to James and Elizabeth Cashman. She was the fourth of eight children. Her family ran the Cashman Seed and Fertilizer store. She attended Catholic schools in Owatonna and Owatonna High School. In 1943, Marge enrolled in the College of St. Teresa in Winona, Minn. She decided in her second year to enter the convent with the Sisters of St. Francis in Rochester as a postulate, and took the name Sister Maeve. She became a novitiate at Rochester in Christmas 1945.

Because of the war and the demand for nurses, she worked in the hospital that was associated with the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. She received a nursing diploma from the St. Mary's School of Nursing in 1949. Marge received a diploma from St. Teresa's in 1961 of bachelor of science.

“I felt I was doing what God wanted me to do,” Mrs. Gallagher said in 2017 for a family history about her life. She worked at the hospital about 12 years and saw many important advances in medical practice.

During her employment, as a sister at St. Mary's Hospital, she supervised, successively, the nursing staff in the emergency room; pediatrics; night medical and surgical; surgical chest, cardiac vascular, open heart, ICU, and a 60-bed medical unit.

She was sent as a missionary by the Sisters of St Francis to Bogota, Colombia with three sister nurses to create a Franciscan Hospital. In 1964 she became director of nursing at Hospital de San Ignacio Javeriana University in Bogota.

Returning to the States in 1971 she worked as group leader and trainer coordinator of the Spanish program for the Training for Living Institute in New York. In 1974, she left the convent. In 1975, Marge married Robert Gallagher, a former parish priest. They moved to Ormond Beach in 1984 and got their Realtors licenses in Florida in 1985. Bob died in 2005.

Mrs. Gallagher was an inspiration for her nieces and nephews. She stayed active, even playing tennis well into her 90s. She moved to Bishops Glen Retirement Community where she was a familiar figure on her three-wheeled bike. She encouraged her nieces and nephews to visit, and they did.

Marge’s life was featured in a story in the Daytona Beach News-Journal on Dec. 18. “Gallagher has showed Father Time who’s boss,” writer Eileen Zaffiro-Kean said. Mrs. Gallagher was a member of Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Ormond Beach.

Marge is survived by 41 nieces and nephews and was predeceased by her sister Elizabeth (Troy), her brothers William, John, Vincent, James, Patrick, and Joseph, and by two nieces and four nephews.

Of her many and varied experiences, Marge said, “My feeling has been that my life has been a response to what I thought the Lord was pushing me to do.”

Service details:

Friday, May 17, 2024

Mass: 10:00 am at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Ormond Beach, FL

Gravesite Service: 11:45 am at Volusia Memorial Park, 550 North Nova Rd. Ormond Beach, FL 32174

386-677-8979

Reception: after gravesite service at Prince of Peace Catholic Church Reception Hall.

Marge was grateful for the generous support of others during her life, so please, no donations. Instead, think of her when you go for a brisk walk and when you spend time with people you love.

Link to Dignity Memorial website for more detailed obituary. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/ormond-beach-fl/marjorie-gallagher-11662185