Marguerite M. Coyle of Chelmsford, MA

Marguerite Mary Coyle, 84, of North Chelmsford, Mass., passed from this life on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at home and surrounded by family. Maggie had charted a singular path through a battle with cancer notable for its strength, attention to nutritional healing, and equanimity.

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Maggie was the daughter of the late Thomas Joseph Coyle and Christina Marie (Burke) Coyle. A 1956 graduate of Lowell High School, Maggie went on to attain a Licensed Practical Nurse degree from Lowell Vocational School and a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Merrimack College, where she made the National Dean’s List. Maggie also completed graduate courses in counseling and psychotherapy at Rivier University and clinical pastoral counseling at Andover Newton Theological School.

Highly intelligent but without airs, Maggie revered education and learning in all its forms, poring over books on psychology and personality, health and nutrition, and religion and spiritual biography throughout her life. She regularly attended the charismatic healing services of Father Ralph DiOrio in the 1970s, and was fond of remembering her spiritual birthday, 11.17.1977, which she noted as the day she was born again in Christ Jesus.

While earlier in life she had worked as a head nurse and a psychiatric nurse (a particular favorite), Maggie came to discover that her true temperament and vocation were those of an artist. A member of the Chelmsford Art Society, Maggie had studied painting with the late Helen Van Wyk and worked mostly in acrylic, watercolor, and pastel to depict landscapes, area barns and homes, still lifes, and interior spiritual experiences. Among her favorite artists were Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin. She also greatly admired local artists Janet Lambert-Moore and Tom Gill, who was also a friend.

Maggie is survived by her adult children: Joy Cook Stifano and her husband Vincent III, Nancy Cook Harris, Lin Cook Hacker and her husband Tom, Mel Cook and her partner Andrew Stevens, and Dr. Joshua Andresen and his wife Samia El Osta; her grandchildren: Atty. Jacquelin Hacker, Brianna Harris, Jill Stifano Mastrocola and her husband Anthony John, and Vincent Stifano IV; her sisters Shirley Powers and Donna Faubert and Donna’s husband Richard; and her nieces Brenda Lowney, Karen O’Leary, and Melissa Schoenfeld and their spouses and children. Maggie was predeceased by her sister Susan Alice Coyle, her niece Jeannine Corey, her brother-in-law William Powers, and her son-in-law Carl Harris.

We will never be as well cared for without the concern and compassion that Maggie gave to all of us here on Earth. In her final days, she told us that she would continue to look after us even after she was gone, and there is no doubt she will.

Funeral services for Maggie were held on April 11, 2023, at Dolan Funeral Home and St. John the Evangelist Church in North Chelmsford.

The family would like to thank those who provided exemplary care for Maggie at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Lowell General Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and VNA Care, among others.

Donations may be made in Maggie’s honor to the following nonprofits that enriched her life: Table of Plenty in Chelmsford, VNA Care, and the Chelmsford Art Society.

Remembrances may be entered in a digital guestbook at www.dolanfuneralhome.com.