Not buried locally.

MARGARET E. McQUISTAN, 100

Margaret E. McQuistan, 100, of Pender, died Jan. 5, 20120, at the Oakland Heights Care Center in Oakland. Funeral services were Jan. 9 at the United Church of Pender. Interment was in Rosehill Cemetery in Pender.

Margaret Edith Hunt was born Sept. 3, 1909, in Niobrara to Fred and Edith (Rasley) Hunt.

She attended the Niobrara schools and Wayne State Teacher’s College to obtain her Life Teaching Certificate. She taught in a country school in Knox County for a short time, then at the Thurston Public Schools. In Thurston she taught in the primary grades and taught penmanship to all the students.

While living in Thurston, she met her future husband, Edward Wallace McQuistan, whom she married on Jan. 23, 1932. They lived on a farm in Wayne County.

After her husband’s death in 1960, she returned to teaching in 1963 and taught third grade in Pender Schools until she resumed college to obtain a bachelor’s degree in education in 1970.

She returned to Pender Public Schools as the school librarian and audio-video specialist until she retired in 1980.

She starting announcing the first day of spring to the school children soon after returning to teaching and did so every year for 40 years. She arrived in classrooms in a long flowered dress, ringing her grandfather’s school bell and carrying a sprig of pussy willows. She wore a hat with a new bobble added each year, asking the students to guess what the new ornament was. She had a keen interest in each of her students and continued to follow their careers. She has also taken a special interest in each of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, encouraging each of them to do their best in life and seeking the best possible education.

Mrs. McQuistan read, prayed, and shared her life with so many, and loved each of them. She loved fresh flowers, especially roses, and always had a fresh bouquet on the table. She was a good wife, a good mother and grandmother and a good friend to all.

She was active in the Presbyterian Church since childhood and held numerous positions in the Pender Presbyterian Church including being the first female church elder. She was active in P.E.O., serving as an international delegate, and Eastern Star, where she was a national delegate, and holding many offices in each. She was also involved with a neighborhood ladies aid, a long-running Bible Study with neighbors, and bridge clubs. She was a member of the Pender Library Board at its inception.

She moved into Pender in 1965 and resided there until moving into the Oakland Heights Care Center in 2006.

She is survived by her children: Margaret Jean “Peggy” and John Young of Blair; William and Janyce McQuistan, and Neal McQuistan, both of rural Pender; and daughter-in-law, Mayvon McQuistan of Pender; 17 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild; a sister-in-law, Marilou Reeger of Wakefield, and brother-in-law, G.E. King of Carmel, Calif.

She was preceded in death by her sons Edward and Kenneth; daughter-in-law, Georgia McQuistan; two brothers, three sisters, a grandson, Edward McQuistan; and a great-grandson, Jacob Edward Niday.

Munderloh Funeral Home in Pender was in charge of arrangements.