Margaret "Peg" L. McGinnis

Margaret “Peg” McGinnis, age 84, passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 15, 2026. She was born on April 9, 1941 in Milwaukee, WI.

Peg graduated from Holy Angels-Milwaukee. She loved the city and was an avid baseball and Milwaukee Braves fan. While in high school, Peg worked as a candy striper at the local hospital before becoming a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines out of Minneapolis, MN. On August 7, 1965, she married Bill McGinnis at St. Mary’s Parish in Appleton thus began a 60-year marriage that produced six kids, 21 grandkids, and two great grandkids.

With a heart of gold and a soft spot for anyone in need, Peg lived her best life raising six kids and tending to so many more. It was what she was born to do and her greatest passion. She had simple needs, believed in a quality education and though she only had a high school diploma, she had a doctorate in wisdom, common sense, and advice-giving. She taught her kids how to pray and have a real relationship with Jesus, provided meals for all of them plus any of their friends and classmates who “forgot” their lunch, chauffeured them to and from games/practices/performances, was a foster mom, and volunteered at the elementary school doing anything that was needed. She especially loved spending time reading with students in a one-on-one setting. She was a gifted and avid knitter, making sweaters, scarves, mittens, baby booties, and blankets for her kids, extended family, friends, as well as those in need through church, schools, and hospitals.

She loved to laugh, sip on a Burger King Coke, go to her Tuesday night Bible study, and babysit for anyone who’d let her hold and nurture a baby. She and Bill worked together in an uncommonly committed and consistent way to raise their kids with discipline, solid values, and unwavering and unconditional love.

She’d be at seemingly every one of her six kids’/21 grandkids’ events and loved watching them regardless of their role on the team or in the performance for the pure joy of seeing them put themselves out there and work with others in a productive manner, never worrying about the outcome, if every note was hit, or every step in sync with the other. Perspective she had; she supported them every step of the way. Her house was filled with “artwork” the kids made, even if it didn’t warrant a shelf. It did to her. Anything homemade, created with passion and love, was a masterpiece and she was going to display it. She loved crafting notes to others, writing down recipes with her beautiful handwriting, and cooking and baking. She enjoyed taking a mid-day break to put her feet up for an episode of “All My Children”, “General Hospital” or “The Price is Right”. She also enjoyed doing her nails, going window-shopping with her daughters, putting clean sheets and pillow cases on everyone’s bed with a crisp fresh air smell from the clothes line outside, and loved whistling and singing as she cleaned her cozy home that she adored.

Peg is survived by husband Bill; children Kelly (Bill) Van Daalwyk, Brian (Jean) McGinnis, Kerry (Dan) Brockmann, Mark (Jennifer) McGinnis, Ryan “Scooter” (Lori) McGinnis, grandchildren, Patrick (Molly) Van Daalwyk, and Jansen Van Daalwyk, Ian (Sydney) and Elle Blaney, Nathaniel (Nicholas Leazer) Brockmann, Bridget and Andrew Brockmann, Patrick, Maggie, and Preston McGinnis, Cal, Megan, Kate, and Brooke McGinnis, Lindsey (Spencer) Steffen, Lauren, Landon, and Lexy Larson, and Mazie and Drew Schroeder; and great grandchildren Kaden and Cali Blaney; and sisters Suzanne Toal-Maas, Kathleen Toal, and Michele Toal.

She was preceded in death by her daughter Molly McGinnis, her parents Patrick and Agnes Toal, her brother Patrick Toal and sister Penelope (Craig) Yakes, her grandson Benjamin Brockmann, her father and mother-in-law, Vernon and Alice (Papa) McGinnis, sister-in-law Mary Jane McGinnis, and nephew Michael Pouba.

Peg will be remembered for her love for kids, compassion, empathy, kindness, thoughtfulness, calm under pressure, selflessness, and smile.

Thanks to the Rennes staff for the consistent and quality care they provided, especially Nicole, Nikki, Linda, Gayle, and Jen.

A Funeral Mass for Peg will be held on Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Bernard Catholic Parish, 1617 W. Pine St., Appleton. Visitation will begin at the church starting at 9:00 a.m. and will continue until the time of the Mass. For online condolences, please visit www.valleyfh.com.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to any Children’s Wisconsin hospital or The Fox Valley Memory Project in memory of Peg.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.