Norma Jean Maginn

After 88 years of brightening every room she entered, Norma Jean Focht Maginn died in Scottsdale, Ariz., April 27, 2016. She will be remembered for her sparkling eyes and dazzling smile, her wit and compassion, her intelligence and curiosity, her open arms and open mind.

Norma will also be remembered for her critical love of books and movies, art and furnishings, food and music, architecture and natural wonders. She grew delicious tomatoes and flower gardens bursting with color, adored Arizona's pink-and-gold sunsets and its majestic yet fragile saguaros, taught her children how to make wishes at their first sighting of a robin each spring in Missouri, dreamed of Iowa corn on the cob and her mother's pot roast, grilled steaks and served them with big salads, and knew sometimes food was so good that people shouldn't even try to speak -- just “wink and chew.”

Norma loved the friends and family who filled her homes with conversation and laughter and diverse views, and we loved her deeply in return--for rejoicing in our triumphs and for guiding us in our times of sorrow, for seeking and gratefully accepting help when she needed it herself, and, through it all, for looking fabulous, with her gorgeous tan, her impressively sized sunglasses, her delightful wardrobe, and her swingy platinum hair.

Norma loved Tiger Woods, even after he fell from grace, and she once traded Zack Greinke a batch of chocolate chip cookies for four signed baseballs. She loved her large extended family of great-looking, super-intelligent nieces and nephews. She was an award-winning singer as a teenager—and, on her final day, despite terminal emphysema, she sang the Lord's Prayer, eyes closed and in a miraculously clear voice, after receiving her last Holy Communion, in hospice, with her two sons holding her hands.

She is survived by her sister, Kay Lawson; her brother, John Focht (Judy); her four children--Kathleen Maginn (Michael Hufft), Maureen Maginn (Craig Bartholomaus), Mike Maginn (Jacque), and Dan Maginn (Keri); and her grandchildren -- Kate, Sam, Leo, Luke, Bridget, Lily and Lawson. Finally, she is survived by her undying love for her husband, Dr. Richard Leo Maginn.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Norma Saturday, May 21, at 10:30 a.m. at the Sulgrave Regency Ballroom, 200 W. 49th St., Kansas City, Mo. 64112.

Ice cream was always a great pleasure for Norma, from her earliest days on the farm to her last days in hospice, and so a memorial fund has been established in her name to support the Child Life Program, which provides ice cream and other comforts to patients and their families at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Donations to the fund are appreciated in lieu of flowers, and should be sent to Missouri Bank, The Norma Maginn Memorial Fund, 125 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108.

An additional Celebration of Life will be held in Fountain Hills, Ariz., at a date to be announced.