By Aria Brent,
AFRO Staff Writer,
abrent@afro.com
On Feb.6,, Margo Marquita McKay passed away at the age of 77.
She was born on Oct.9, 1946 in Baltimore to her parents, Gordon McKay and Gary Jones McKay. She was raised in Pittsburgh, Pa., and attended South Hills High School. Following high school she attended FIsk University in Nashville, Tenn. While obtaining her Bachelor of Arts from Fisk, her intellect shined bright as she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society and she graduated from the historical institution magna cum laude. After receiving her first degree, the ambitious scholar then earned her Juris Doctorate from Georgetown Law Center in Washington D.C,–one of the several places she received her bar association membership in. Throughout her career she would earn her bar association membership in Pennsylvania and Virginia as well.
The highly accomplished lawyer started her career as a trial attorney while working for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S Department of Justice. She held a plethora of positions in the legal system throughout her career. She worked as a prosecutor, defense counsel, an administrative judge, a mediator, a corporate attorney, and most notably, she served as assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S Department of Agriculture from 2006 to 2009.
Fortunate enough to find love twice in her lifetime, she was married to Col. James P. Allen of Philadelphia, Pa. and Edward A. Tibbs of Pittsburgh, Pa. With Allen she would have her three children, Marja Vongerichten, Eric Allen, and Kaila Allen, all of whom were the lights of her life.
It should be noted that regardless of the many professional successes she achieved, none of them compared to the joy of motherhood. She is survived by her three children; her grandchildren, Chloe Vongerichten and Claire Allen; her sisters Linda McKay and Sonya Davenport; her daughter-in-law Lisa Allen and son-in-law Jean-Georges Vongerichten; her niece Rhonda Jones; and her nephews Justin McKay, William Davenport, Jordan Davenport and Joshua Davenport.
Margo was one of five siblings and is preceded in death by her brothers Gordon Gary McKay and Ronald Keith McKay. She is also preceded by former husband Col. James P. Allen, and both of her parents.
