Youngstown’s Sister Margaret celebrates 100th birthday with dozens of people she’s impacted along the way

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A Mahoning County woman is celebrating a milestone birthday — 100 years and still going strong.

The gifts, the cards, the cookies — all key ingredients in the recipe for a perfect birthday celebration.

But if you ask Sister Margaret Mary about the best part?

“It’s the hugs,” she said.

One person after another, dozens — if not hundreds — lined up to wish Sister Margaret a happy birthday on Friday.

Born in 1924, she’s 100 years young, and still greeting everyone with a smile and those signature hugs.

“If you’re going to hug someone, it has to be your heart to their heart. She learned that from Dalai Lama,” said Kathy Harley, president of St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

Sister Margaret entered the Sisters of Humility of Mary in 1942, becoming a pharmacist until she retired in 1994.

“It’s very hard to be a pharmacist. You have to keep your mind on all the time,” she said.

Today, she’s still serving, volunteering at the hospital once a week. Her presence is a gift to each person she comes across.

“It’s rewarding if I know that I’m helping someone by just being there,” Sister Margaret said.

So seeing people show up to celebrate with her meant more to Sister Margaret than she could explain.

“I feel extremely grateful,” she said. “It’s something that only in a dream I would’ve seen this many people. I’m so happy.”

Signing cards and swapping stories, each guest almost reluctantly gave way to the next person patiently waiting to greet her.

“She’s had a lineup of people for well over an hour now and I got a little teary just seeing everybody here. Almost everyone I talked to said, ‘I wouldn’t have missed this day.’ People came in who weren’t working today to see her,” said Natalie Terry-Haag, mission director.

Between Sister Margaret’s work in the pharmacy and her time volunteering, she has been collectively serving the hospital for over 78 years.

“It is absolutely priceless. She and her sisters of this order do so much for this hospital and have taught us so much,” Harley said.

Sister Margaret also shared the secret for a life well-lived along the way.

“They ask me what the secret is. I say, early to bed, early to rise.”

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