- Date Of Birth: September 2, 1938
- Date Of Death: August 25, 2021
- State: Colorado
Margaret (Marge) Ackerman Tirella left on her final cruise (Port of Call: Heaven) on August 25, 2021. When she reached her life goal of meeting God, she had left no stone unturned. She lived a full and adventurous 82 (almost 83) years! Her adventures included being married to her husband of 58 Years, Russ, raising 7 strong, caring and opinionated children, creating mischief and laughter with her 20 grandchildren and enjoying all the dogs and grand-dogs in her life. She celebrated her 65th birthday by going skydiving, traveled to over 80 countries, cooked homemade Italian meals for her family, loved shopping for the perfect gift for someone, had a steel trap memory (sometimes we didn’t always appreciate that and loved to know what was going on with people. Her claim to fame was naming all six of her daughters Mary and her son Joseph….yes, we are Catholic.
As her eyes and ears faded, she befriended her IPAD and we would hear her laughing at dog videos, listening to Johnny Cash, keeping up with people on Facebook (and no, we’re not making money on name dropping) and watching Netflix until all hours of the night. Although we lectured her about not eating while laying down, we would always catch her eating grapes or lemon cake (who likes lemon cake??) lying down in bed with her IPAD. She loved her family being together and laughing.
She instilled strength, faith, independence, a love of travel, love of dogs and strong family bonds in all of her kids. She always loved to learn new things (taking a class on quantum physics at 55 years old for fun), C.S. Lewis, mystics, would read non-stop until her eyes didn’t allow for that (and yes, we tried to get her on audio books, but she was too busy using her IPAD to laugh at videos) and loved history. I think her older kids have road tripped to every historical monument in the U.S crammed into the station wagon and not wearing seat belts.
Marge had a unique knack of remembering the past, but always changing with the times. She loved strolling through shops to “see what’s new in the world” and buying jewelry that she fell in love with (much to dad’s chagrin). She made holidays special, made it ok to make mistakes and speak your truth.
She was extremely proud of her kids and her grand kids – whether it was a degree they earned, an adventure they went on, an act of kindness that they showed to someone – it all meant the world to her.
Although her life was full of adventure, she also had her share of challenges that she would face with strength, faith and prayer. She lived her life dedicated to her husband and kids and we will continue our strength of family.
Carrying on her legacy is Orazio “Russ” (Simba) Tirella, Mary Teresa and Bobby Stransky, Mary Michele and Barry Brewster, Mary Stephanie (Stacy) – (still not sure how we got Stacy out of Stephanie) Tirella, Mary Catherine (Katie) and Damon Dirksen: Joseph and Jenefer Tirella, Mary Regina Tirella (mom’s independence shining through) and Quinston Daugherty, Mary Angela and Chuck Dwyer and all her grand-children
Grand-children and traits from Grandma:
Sara Schaefer – spirituality
Steven Dirksen – love of travel
Megan Dirksen – wanderlust
Beth Brewster – love of dogs and independence
Ben Brewster – dreamer
Matthew Tirella – love for history
Margaret (Maggie) Tirella – kindness and her name
Carol Tirella – adventurous
Ella Daugherty – sense of humor and thoughtfulness
Quinn Daugherty – packing for trips and interior design
Orazio “Razi” Daugherty – sweet tooth
Julia Dwyer – deep thinker
Annika Dwyer – caretaking
Makayla Dwyer – fun
Cambria Dwyer – niceness
Robby Stransky
Jacob Stransky
Anthony Stransky
Beau Stransky
Max Stransky
