Margaret "Margo" Gallagher

Margaret Louise (“Margo”) Taylor Gallagher of Johnson City, Tennessee, passed away peacefully on September 16, 2025, shortly after returning from a trip to Rome, Venice, Zadar, Split, Kotor, Mt. Etna, Capri, Corsica, and Florence with her daughter, Mary Taylor, and son-in-law, Chris. An avid traveler, Margo loved sailing the Aegean Sea through the Greek Isles in 2023 with Chris and Mary Taylor and through the Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian, and Mediterranean Seas with them this year.

A proud graduate of Lincoln Elementary, John Sevier, and Dobyns Bennett High School, Margo cherished her memories of growing up on Pineola Street in Kingsport with her parents, Louise Watkins Taylor and James Caswell Taylor, her older brother, Phillip Caswell Taylor, and her younger sister, Susanna Taylor Harrison. Margo often told stories of walking to Lincoln Elementary where her Aunt Grace was her 5th grade teacher, taking supper to her father at the firehouse, Fourth of July parades down Center Street, double features at the downtown theatre, having lunch during high school at her Aunt Grace’s on Wateree Street across from the old Dobyns Bennett, and the legendary Bridge games played at the Pineola house.

After graduating from high school, Margo spent four (actually five) of the best years of her life at the University of Alabama when Bear Bryant was the head coach and Joe Namath was the quarterback. These years turned into a life-long love affair between Margo and the Crimson Tide. For the last 15 years, Margo sat with her sister Susanna and brother-in-law, Tommy Harrison, in the South Zone of Bryant-Denney stadium where they cheered on the Tide and reminisced about their shared college days (including how Margo introduced Tommy to Susanna).

Margo took a trip to Europe after graduating from Alabama. On this trip, she met the love of her life, John Stephen (“Steve”) Gallagher. They married on August 9, 1972, in the living room of Margo’s parents’ home on Pineola. Lovers of the water, Margo and Steve lived on Boone Lake for several years before having Mary Taylor in 1976 and moving up to Windy Hill, where they built a house close to several dear friends. Life on Windy Hill was filled with pool parties, cookouts, and Fourth of July celebrations complete with Steve and friends setting off fireworks in the pasture behind their house. Wanting to be closer to Mary Taylor’s school, they moved in 1990 to Sunset Drive in Johnson City (where Margo lived the rest of her life). After arriving on Sunset, Margo and Steve promptly put in a pool and continued entertaining family and friends, vacationing at Kiawah Island, and visiting family. Margo and Steve enjoyed 32 years of marriage before his passing in 2004.

In 2008, Margo retired from a long career teaching (Mount Carmel School, Fairmont Elementary, and Lake Ridge Elementary) and never looked back. No one enjoyed retirement more than Margo. She always looked forward to her Thursday lunches with her Roundtable friends (especially after returning from one of her fabulous trips) and lunches with the Naomi group of Westminster Presbyterian Church, where she was a longtime member. When she was at home on Sunset, Margo was usually on the sunporch watching tennis and either reading or doing a crossword puzzle.

Margo burned up the road in her beloved BMW from Johnson City to visit Mary Taylor and Chris in Nashville, Susanna and Tommy in Mobile, and Phil and his wife, Trish, in Memphis. Margo, Phil, and Susanna enjoyed a close relationship all their lives and she loved them dearly. Most of all, she loved Mary Taylor, who was both her daughter and best friend. She never stopped being a mother to her Little Shuggie, making homemade caramel birthday cakes, Easter baskets, sending Valentine’s flowers and cards for every holiday, and mailing newspaper clippings every week (always adding stickers to the manilla envelope and calling to make sure Mary Taylor checked the mail). Margo made Mary Taylor feel like the most special person in the world. Words cannot adequately express her sorrow at the loss of her Meme. Margo was everything you could wish for in a daughter, sister, wife, mother, mother-in-law, and friend: kind, loving, compassionate, a great listener, generous, and always up for a good time. She recently told Mary Taylor that she always wanted to be where there was a party going on. In fact, Margo was the party, and we were lucky to be invited. Her memory will always be a blessing to all those who loved her and she is already deeply missed.

Margo is survived by her daughter, Mary Taylor Gallagher, and favorite son-in-law, Chris Cardwell, brother Phil Taylor and sister-in-law Trish Taylor, sister Susanna Harrison and brother-in-law Tommy Harrison, sister-in-law Susan Gallagher Hoeing, nephews Drew Taylor, T Harrison (Brantley), Taylor Harrison (Kelley), James Hoeing and nieces Susannah Taylor Marriott (Phil), Julie Hoeing VanDuzer (Mike), and Kathy Hoeing Condon (Brian), great nieces and nephews, and countless friends.

A celebration of Margo’s life will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Saturday, September 20, 2025 (a bye-week for Alabama) at 12:00, with visitation prior to the service from 10:00 – 12:00. A graveside service will follow at Monte Vista Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church, or the charity of your choosing.

Finally, Mary Taylor began collecting “Margo-isms” a few years ago. Feel free to ask her to share one or more with you.