Lois “Tootie” McConaghy died peacefully on October 18, 2026 at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. She was 85.
She was the daughter of Charles and Alice Louise Petrillo of Chelsea. Her husband, Robert McConaghy Sr., died before her. Her family says the word for her was Nana, and not only to her own grandchildren. She traveled, gardened and cooked for whoever was at the table; summer meant fried clams and Bianchi’s pizza; she read, played Michael Buble, shopped QVC without end, kept cats, collected giraffes and cheered the Bruins.
Her four children survive her: Robert Jr. and his wife Marybeth in Melrose, Charles in Lynn, Michael Sr. and his wife Grace in Malden, and Christine Brazis and her husband Scott in Saugus. So do ten grandchildren, Nicole, Matthew, Maddie, Joshua, Robert II, Michael Jr., Samantha, Karli, Zak and Lily, spread from Melrose and Malden to Tewksbury, South Easton, California and Nevada, along with eight great-grandchildren, Jordan, Shay, Marco, Henrie, Nora, Cameron Jr., Graciana and Stevie. A daughter-in-law, Audrey McConaghy, died before her.
A private cremation has been held. Arrangements are by the Bisbee-Porcella Funeral Home, Saugus.
Compiled from information published by Bisbee-Porcella Funeral Home. Photograph courtesy of the family via Bisbee-Porcella Funeral Home. This is our own summary, not the family’s obituary; read the full obituary and leave a condolence at the funeral home’s page on Legacy.com. Corrections: we will fix any error promptly.
