Lucilla McGlinchey

Lucilla McGlinchey, age 87, passed away on April 21, 2024, in Alexandria, Virginia, after complications from an accidental fall. Lucilla was born May 1936, in Palembang, Indonesia to Agus and Rafiah Rachman. Her family of five sisters and two brothers moved to Jakarta, Indonesia in 1955. In June 1964 Lucilla met and married her future husband of 56 years, Alfred McGlinchey of Boston, Massachusetts, who was working for RCA Corporation as a defense contractor for the United States.

In 1965 after the birth of her first child, Daniel, Lucilla moved with Alfred to his hometown south of Boston, Roslindale, Massachusetts, where she marveled at her first sight of snow falling from the sky. Later in 1965 Alfred’s defense contracting job with RCA Corporation took them to the U.S military base in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where her second child, Maureen, was born. Lucilla enjoyed her time in Puerto Rico, raising her young children living in a military base house on beautiful Luquillo beach, learning how to drive a manual shift VW Bug that occasionally involved gently running into a coconut tree with her young children in the back seat, and making friends with other American wives living on the military base.

In 1968 Lucilla became a U.S. citizen after she moved with Alfred back to Massachusetts to the town of Westborough, where she and Alfred raised their young children for the next four years. Lucilla looked back fondly at her time in their small, cozy house on Doherty Road - having Alfred’s extended family of relatives and Alfred’s father, Alfred Sr., from Boston come visit for summer cookouts and in the winter enjoying watching her young children ice skate on the iced over New England ponds.

In late 1972 Lucilla and Alfred moved from Massachusetts to Sayville, Long Island, New York, then in 1973 moved again to Beltsville, Maryland, before moving again in 1976 to their future home of 48 years in Fairfax County, Alexandria, Virginia, when Alfred joined the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Service Security Engineer Officer.

In late 1979 Alfred began his first overseas tour for the State Department to Nairobi, Kenya, while Lucilla and her children stayed behind in Virginia until the end of the children’s school year in the summer of 1980. During this almost 8 month period, Lucilla took care of her children by herself, a sometimes difficult and lonely support role for the family Lucilla had to perform throughout her marriage due to the numerous job relocations in her husband’s work career history and it is a loving testament of Lucilla’s total devotion to her family and her inner strength to carry the family through those times that we shall always be grateful and love her for. When she followed her husband to Nairobi, Lucilla first made a return visit to Jakarta, Indonesia, in the summer of 1980 with her children to visit her grandmother and large family of five sisters and one brother, whom she had not seen since leaving Indonesia 15 years ago.

In Nairobi, Lucilla worked for the U.S. Embassy as an office management specialist and she and her husband enjoyed taking the family to see the wonderful natural beauty of Kenya. At the end of her husband’s overseas tour in Nairobi in 1982 she and her children returned to their home in Northern Virginia so that her children could finish their last year of high school in the United States. She continued working for the U.S. State Department by entering the Civil Service as a Secretary working in the PER, FBO, IRM and IO domestic bureaus in State Department’s Washington, D.C. headquarters.

1996 brought Lucilla one of the happiest events of her life as a mother when her daughter Maureen was married to Jeffrey Randolph in Leesburg, Virginia. This was followed with even more wonderful events with the birth of her grandson, Patrick, in 1997, granddaughter Caitlin in 1999 and granddaughter Brigid in 2001.

In 2000 she traveled to Brunei Darussalam with a State Department team to support the Delegation of the Unites States of America during the Brunei Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit 2000.

In 2004, Lucilla retired from the State Department after 20 years of service. In retirement, she was an avid traveler, traveling with her husband to their favorite travel destination, the beaches of Florida and Key West, and flying to the sunny beach resorts on Punta Cana, where she provided steady support to her husband after excursions to the free drinks bar, and making one last trip with her husband back to his hometown of Roslindale, Massachusetts. She was a frequent traveler, taking numerous Fairfax County Parks day tours all over Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C, and the Mid-Atlantic region and, being an avid home gardener, especially loved the garden tours sponsored by Green Spring Gardens. She traveled several times back to Jakarta, Indonesia, to visit her large family, starting in 1989 before her mother passed away in 1993, and several more trips in 1994, 2002, and a final trip in 2010.

Along with spending time and traveling with her husband in retirement, Lucilla’s other great joy was the life she had with her grandchildren. Every birthday, every baptism and confirmation, every Thanksgiving, every Christmas and Easter, she lovingly devoted herself to her grandchildren and celebrating all those events at grandma’s house became a life-long part of their childhood. She was their number one fan when eagerly attending every dance recital, musical or dramatic play that they participated in and proudly attended each one of her grandchild’s high school graduation.

Lucilla was predeceased by her husband, Alfred, in 2004, four sisters and two brothers and is survived by her son Daniel, daughter Maureen, three grandchildren, Patrick, Caitlin, and Brigid, two siblings and numerous nieces and nephews. Her funeral at National Memorial Park Cemetery in Falls Church, Virginia, was held on April 24, 2024.

Mom, you left your home country and all of your family to travel to a new, faraway country because, as you told us after dad passed away, of the love and devotion you had for dad from the first night he saw you on a double-date and switched his date with you saying “I want you instead!”, a love that carried our family through all of our travels and tribulations moving constantly from place to place our whole childhood, a love that you told us after dad passed away you looked back in happiness and absolute gratitude of the 56 wonderful years you spent with him, a love that brought such wonderful life and such loving kindness to your children and grandchildren. Although our grief over your sudden loss is overwhelming, we are also joyous and thankful knowing you told us just last year you looked back with absolute happiness and thankfulness of the long life you spent with dad and the unconditional love you gave to your children and grandchildren, blessed living life up to the very end with a family who loved you dearly. God is love eternal and we are comforted knowing you are now again with the husband you have loved for nearly 60 years, now joined together in love for all eternity with God. We shall remember and love you forever so hang on to your favorite Indonesian Chicken Fried Rice recipe to cook for all of us when we meet again, where we are sure we will find you contentedly tending your garden flowers in the eternal gardens of Heaven with dad watching you garden while he is sitting on the back porch picnic table smoking his “awful” cigars.

We love you, we thank you and bless you for the life and love you and dad gave us that allowed us to share such a wonderful, long, and happy family life together, we will live our lives in a way that will always honor you and dad, and we will remember you in our hearts and prayers every day, forever.

Just before you passed away you wrote down the lines to one of your favorite Tony Bennet songs, “The Shadow of Your Smile” that comforted you in remembering dad so we will continue to sing it for you as well. The remembrance of the shadow of your smile will color all of our dreams and light the dawn for us as well, mom, until we meet again.

The shadow of your smile

When you are gone

Will color all my dreams

And light the dawn

Now when I remember spring

All the joy that love can bring

I will be remembering

The shadow of your smile