Mary McQueen truly believed in the power of prayer, so much so that neither family members nor close friends saw her worry or complain.
She’d just lift one hand toward heaven and declare, “God is in charge.”
“That was her phrase,” said longtime friend and former neighbor Charlotte Hafley of Atlanta. “She prayed for everyone she knew. She prayed for them in the morning and prayed for them at night. No one was left out.”
For Mrs. McQueen, prayer was part of her devout Catholic faith. She was an active member at the Cathedral of Christ the King on Peachtree Road in Atlanta for more than 62 years.
Mrs. McQueen rarely missed daily Mass, and she participated in numerous church ministries and helped form and lead a prayer group, said Dottie O’Connor, pastoral associate of the church’s pastoral care ministry.
“She was a real model of prayer, and taught a lot of people how to pray,” said friend Mary Shusta of Atlanta. “The most notable thing about her was her persistence about it. She always prayed that she would never miss Mass due to age or illness. So when she did have to miss these last years because of illness I’m sure it was a terrible trial for her. We brought communion to her home.”
Because of declining health, Mrs. McQueen moved in August from her Atlanta home into A.G. Rhodes Health & Rehab in Marietta. She died there Wednesday of congestive heart failure. She was 93. A funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Cathedral of Christ the King.
Mary Lubbe McQueen had a devout Catholic upbringing in Covington, Ky. She graduated high school from the Notre Dame Academy, then went to work for the Montgomery Coal Co.
In 1938 she met her future husband, Charles Louie McQueen, an Atlanta native. They courted while dancing to big band music at the Moonlight Gardens in nearby Cincinnati, and married in 1939. Mr. McQueen served stateside in the Army during World War II then moved his family to Atlanta.
Through the years, Mrs. McQueen helped her husband operate his independent business ventures, but most of her free time revolved around Christ the King, family members said. Wednesdays were special because she and her husband attended Mass together, a routine she continued after Mr. McQueen died in 1978.
So important was her faith that Mrs. McQueen sacrificed to ensure her two sons, Michael and Donald, received a top-notch Catholic education, first at Christ the King School and then Marist High School.
“We moved from Marietta just so we could walk to school [at Christ the King]. It was Labor Day weekend 1949 and my brother was starting first grade,” recalled son Donald McQueen of Marietta.
Shortly after her husband died Mrs. McQueen and Mrs. Hafley formed a prayer group that met daily after the morning or noon Mass.
“Mary McQueen never missed attending unless she had a doctor’s appointment or one of her children was ill,” Mrs. Hafley said.
Mrs. McQueen lived independently in her family home near the cathedral until her move in August. Her oldest son, Michael McQueen, died in February.
Other survivors include a sister, Jean Hoefker of Wilder, Ky.; four grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
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