Margaret Malakoff
Margaret Malakoff

Obituary of Margaret Theresa Malakoff

Margaret Theresa (Murphy) “Maggie” Malakoff quietly passed away on Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at the Colonial Inn in Olympia, Washington.

Maggie was born to James and Laverne Murphy on January 24, 1933 at Providence Hospital in Seattle. She was the third of six children and lived initially in what is now Bellevue, Washington. She then moved with her family to a rural area near Hoquiam, Washington. She graduated from Hoquiam High School. She then went to the University of Washington, where she would earn a Bachelor’s degree in Romance Languages.

While at UW, she met Burton Malakoff. They married on January 12, 1956 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. They would go on to have five children: Morris (Patti), David (Yvonne), Suzanne (Jan Cnossen), Kim (Lora), and Carrie Echeita (Rich). 

She was a stay-at-home mom for most of the years her children were in elementary school. She returned to work in the late 1960s, first for a Tacoma-area insurance office and later for the Washington State Department of Employment Security in Olympia, where she would rise through the ranks before retiring as a manager in 1992 after 27 years with the agency. That career allowed her to support her family and care for her ailing husband. 

Burton would pass in June 1979, and Maggie would live nearly 40 more years, proudly watching her family flourish and grow.

She loved to travel, making numerous trips to Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.  She lived in Oaxaca, Mexico briefly in retirement, making use of her Spanish language skills in everyday life.

Maggie was a devout Roman Catholic and, for many years, was an active member of Scared Heart parish in Lacey, Washington. At Sacred Heart, she served as a Eucharistic minister and lector, including serving as a lector at the Spanish language services.

She had a warm place in her heart for animals, particularly the assorted mutts that came through her life over the decades that she lived happily in her Gull Harbor area home.  

Maggie often told people her proudest achievement in life was her family. 

She is survived by her five children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, two of her siblings, and numerous nieces, nephews, and grandnieces and nephews.

A service to celebrate Maggie will be held on Friday, November 9, 2018, 9:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church, 812 Bowker St. SE, Lacey, WA 98503. An informal reception will follow at the Colonial Inn (where she lived), 3730 14th Ave. SE, Olympia, WA 98501.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in her name to organizations benefitting women and/or children or an animal rescue or shelter would be appreciated.

 

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Friday
9
November

Memorial Service

9:00 am
Friday, November 9, 2018
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
813 Bowker St. SE
Lacey, Washington, United States
Friday
9
November

Reception

10:30 am
Friday, November 9, 2018
Colonial Inn
3730 14th Ave. SE
Olympia, Washington, United States
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