The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.


Meet Your Neighbor

by Susan Galbraith, The Quill

Meet Your Neighbor Mary Margaret Day of rural Blandinsville, born December 22, 1930, at her grandparents home near St. Patrick, Missouri.

The post office in St. Patrick is the only post office in the world so every St. Patrick's Day the post office there receives many pieces of mail to be postmarked and each year they have a different postmark.

When Mary Margaret was 3 months old her family moved near Smithshire as her father worked for Bill Woods.

Two years later they moved to Lynches north of Raritan where her dad worked for Lawrence Lynch.

Five years after that the family moved west of Raritan and rented land from Brennan Lynch. They lived there until her marriage in 1951.

She went to Barry School, a one-room schoolhouse for two years. She then attended Cox School also a one-room schoolhouse and then attended Stronghurst Grade School for her 8th grade year. In 1949 she graduated from Stronghurst High School.

She married Merle Day in June of 1951 and he passed away in 1995.

They lived in Stronghurst until 1957 and then moved to Monmouth. In 1965 they moved to 30 acres north of Monmouth and in 1980 they moved to Blandinsville. Merle was an outlying troubleman for Illinois Power Company.

She and Merle have 6 children: Steven (Wendy) Day who live in Mukilteo, Washington. Steven is in special education at Mukilteo Middle School and Wendy is a billing specialist at Fisers in Bellview, Washington; Susan (David) Blender live in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Susan is the registrar at Rutherfordton RS Central High School and David is head of product development at Meggitt in Rockmart, Georgia. Sharon (Darrell) Bray live in La Harpe where Sharon is sales director for Mary Kay Cosmetics and Darrell is employed at NTN Bowers in Macomb as a screw machine operator; Sharla (Jim) Lenix both are employed at Crop Production Services and live in La Harpe. Sharla is administrative coordinator and Jim is warehouse manager; Stanley (Mary) Day live in rural Macomb. Stanley is in the trucking and truck brokerage business and Mary is administrative assistant to the Dean of the Library at Western Illinois University in Macomb; Sheila (Tracy) Wauzynski live in Yakima, Washington. Sheila is physical therapy assistant at Yakima Medical Center and Tracy is custodian for Yakima school district.

She has 16 grandchildren: Brennan, Irina, Jessica (deceased) Erica, Melissa, Shannon, Kirstan, Nathan (deceased) Brenna, Heather, Amber, Ryan, Brittany, Ashton, Stella and Olivia and is blessed by two great-grandchildren, William and Luke.

In March of 1950 she began employment at the Stronghurst Bank being the first young woman to be employed there.

She said, "I really enjoyed working with Howard Grigsby, Wayne Little and Flem McMillan. She worked full time until their son, Steven, was born and then worked part-time before moving to Monmouth in November of 1957.

Besides being employed at the Stronghurst Bank she was also employed by Winkler Feed Service, a floral shop, helped people in their homes, and was a Mary Kay skin care consultant for 23 years.

Her parents are Ervin and Rosetta Brennan both deceased.

A sister, Rose Marie Billups is also deceased.

Mary Margaret is very involved at St. Patrick's Catholic Church near Raritan. She is a member of the altar and rosary society, is a lector, extraordinary minister (helping to distribute communion) and has helped organize the monthly day of Eucharistic Adoration.

She was also active in McDonough County Homemakers Extension for a number of years and served as activities chairman.

For several years she has been active in TEC and on the board. TEC is a weekend youth retreat for teens to encounter Christ in a new way.

She enjoys reading, traveling, crafts, friends, and family. She has taught quilting classes and was part owner of a craft coop shop business in La Harpe.

When asked what she enjoys most about being a mother and grandmother she said,

"I loved being a mom and feel very blessed with my children. I always wanted a large family and I remember feeling so close to God when I delivered my babies. And becoming a grandmother and holding those little ones in my arms I could see the past generations that went before me in those little angels."