07/30/2018
Maggie (Martin) McCarey, 67, born Aug 16, 1951, in Knoxville, Iowa passed away July 30, 2018, surrounded by her loving family.
Maggie fondly told stories of her life on her grandparents’ farm and how profound the influence of those early experiences was on nurturing her spirit and shaping the adult she would eventually become. There she was blessed by her grandparents’ unconditional love for her set against a backdrop of everyday farm chores and the freedom to play, explore, and simply be a child that would help shape her values throughout her life.
Everyone whose life journey she intersected was improved, some subtly and others profoundly. If your loved one was dead or dying, you received not just her comfort but something more: the trans-formative insight that might help you well beyond your current misery. With unbounded energy, Maggie engaged others fully and honestly, only expecting an honest, authentic exchange in return. Her spirit was expansive, pure, and encompassing over many lifetimes; she possessed a natural, deep curiosity, joyful spirit, and ability to intuitively perceive the truth in everything she explored. She brought those qualities—along with her immense intellect—to bear on everything from interior design to spirituality and finally, for the later part of her life, Lymphedema, and Lipedema, debilitating hereditary diseases that began to intensify during the past decade.
Lymphedema and Lipedema gradually took her mobility. The progressively crippling diseases made rising from a chair an arduous and painful process. She absolutely loved being in nature, and she and Joe—her partner of eighteen years—had many adventures in the forests and mountains.
Dismayed and enraged by her disease, Maggie immersed herself in researching Lymphedema and Lipedema, often challenging the conventional orthodoxy of Western medicine, which she deeply despised due to its dismissal of the underlying causes of these diseases. She learned everything she could about each illness and often advised clinical researchers. She helped build an international community of tens of thousands of Lymphedema and Lipedema sufferers, created holistic self-treatments that extended quality of life, and ultimately published the most definitive Lipedema book to date.
Against insurmountable odds, Maggie fought bravely against life-threatening illnesses because she would never submit to the tyranny of anything that she recognized as detrimental to a life journey. From advocating for those without resources to challenging others to think critically, Maggie readily took up the fight. After all her successes fighting for others, sadly for us, Maggie started a new journey on July 30, 2018.
Maggie is survived by her mother, Marilyn Martin; her children: Karey Gwinn (Robin), Stefanie Gwinn-Vega (Roberto), Catia Laird de Polanco (Rodrigo), and Paola Perin (Aditya); her mate, Joseph Korkin; her five siblings: Rodney Martin, Darla Martin-Vanderpool (Larry), Darlene Martin Wilson (Chuck), Janel Martin, and Charles Martin (Lisa); her grandchildren: 
Zakarey (Kristen), Kainen (Jessica), Gavin, Merri, Jorian, Adrianna, Kora, and Terra; her great-grandchildren: Lavender, Kai, Joey, Lillian, Olivia, Braxton, Reace, Madeline, and Acacia; and an abundance of nieces, nephews, and long-time friends. She will also be missed by the countless individuals she healed and by the lipedema and lymphedema communities that she advocated for, advised, and supported.
Maggie is predeceased by her father Charles Martin and her grandparents Idris Martin and Irene Martin (Worrall).