Margaret Kotulak Butchko was born July 11, 1917 in Ellsworth, Pennsylvania to Anna and Thomas Kotulak. Her father was a coal miner, and as the second oldest of 9 children, she left school at an early age to help support her family. When she spoke of those days, there was no hint of sadness; only pride that she was able to give her mother the money she earned. In fact, had work was something she lived for the remainder of her days. When she reached her 90's and the doctors asked to what she attributed her longevity, the answer was always the same- a loving family and hard work.

Margaret met and married Steve Butchko and they settled in Nutley and then Bloomfield, New Jersey. Their family soon grew with the birth of their two children, Dennis and Janet. She was always so proud of her children, and watched as each earned college degrees and went on to teaching positions, Dennis in Vermont and Janet at the Jersey Shore. Margaret was also happy that her sisters, many of whom also lived in the North Jersey area, continued to be an integral part of her life.

With the untimely death of her husband Steve, Margaret found solace in traveling for extended visits with Dennis and Janet both of whom now had their own families – Dennis with his wife Betty and their daughter Amy, and Janet and husband Jim and their children Meredith, Jim, and Marisa. When it later became unwise for her to continue living alone, she first moved to Wilmington, Vermont and lived with Dennis in 2012, Margaret then moved to Dallas, Texas and lived with Janet and her family for the next 5 years, sampling the "everything is bigger in Texas" life, until her death this Holy Thursday at the age of 99.

In large part because of these travels and relocations, Margaret developed very close relationships with, not only her four grandchildren, but also her great grandchildren- Emma and Ellie Burrell (Meredith and husband Chip) and Ty and Reese Cherry (Marisa and husband John). As a result, she was not just a name on a birthday or Christmas card to them, but was a very real and beloved person known simply as "Nanny Butchko." When they visited, they would make a beeline for Nanny to hear her many stories.

And she did love to share stories of her early years. Some stories were sad, like the pain of losing her brother John in World War II, but most were happy and filled with memories of picking apples with her brothers and sisters, baking bread with her mother, and the inside secrets of how to make the best blueberry pie or prune kolaches.

But beyond story-telling, perhaps Margaret's greatest gift was that her Catholic faith in which she sought and found contentment in lean times, joy in happy times and peaceful solace in tragic times. While she good-naturedly took ribbing for holding a record for the number of magnetic holy cards on her refrigerator door, it was clear to all who knew her that faith in God was the center of her life and that this faith was her prized possession. She went to her eternal reward after 99 joyful years spent with her loving family on April 13, 2017.

Memorial Mass, Friday, June 16, 2016, at St. Thomas the Apostle RC Church, 60 Byrd Ave., Bloomfield.

Margaret's cremains will be laid to rest next to her late husband Steven in East Ridgelawn Cemetery, Clifton.