Margaret O'Hara

Margaret Mead O’Hara passed away peacefully on January 30th, 2025, at her home in Meridian, Idaho surrounded by family while listening to her most cherished song, Amazing Grace. It was a script only Margaret could have written, as she died how she lived—on her own terms. A friend to all who knew her, a fierce competitor to all who played cards against her, and a devoted matriarch to all her extensive and belovéd family, Margaret was a beautiful light whose spirit touched so many lives in this world and undoubtedly shines just as brightly in the arms of our Savior.

Born in Cody Wyoming on August 16th, 1938, to Charles and Dorothy Mead, Margaret was a descendant of a family whose lineage extended back to Colonial America—where ancestors fought in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars before turning west to pioneer the land in some of the harshest conditions of Wisconsin, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Margaret was raised with values of hard work, sacrifice, and family unity, by the ideals of self-reliance and determination, while her deep devotion and love of God was forged by the land and the bounty He provided.

Married in Alberton, Montana at the age of 17, Margaret was the mother of six daughters by the age of 26. Working at home to raise her children while her husband worked in various sawmills, Margaret worked tirelessly to cook, clean, sew clothes, raise a garden, and stretch a buck to feed her family while living in Montana. She was the last to the table, and as one of her daughters remarked, “she likely never ate a hot meal, even though we all did.” Although her husband’s job eventually took them to Idaho and Oregon, where she worked at several supermarkets, her work ethic never changed, and the garden she leaves behind in a Meridian suburb remains as a legacy of her life’s work, and the canning jars as a symbol of the values that never left her from the earliest days on the homestead farm.

Although known as a kind and sweet woman who was all too happy to make a meal for a stranger, bake a pie for a neighbor, or pray for a soul in need, that Mead blood flowed in her veins, and when she put her foot down and set her jaw, the conversation was over. She listened to advice, but only out of respect for others, as she was going to do what she had always done—trust her instincts and listen for the voice of God to show her the way. Margaret provided comfort for her family in her final days, knowing full well that she was being called home to the House of our Lord, and died as she had always lived. That same self-reliant and determined blood flows in all her offspring, and in this way, her spirit lives on in each of them.

Margaret is preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Gary O’Hara and grandchildren Nicole West and Luke Phillips. She is survived by her six daughters Rhonda, Michele, Natalie, Kathryn, Patricia, and Lois, as well as her 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

The family would like to thank the friends of First Baptist Church of Meridian and the Meridian Senior Center who played an integral role in her life these past 11 years—you were her family too.