Love struck in 3rd grade, on dance floor
Margaret Branagan O’Connor met the love of her life when she was a third-grader at St. Bede School in Point Breeze. Now 100 years old and living in Fort Myers, Fla., she often says, “I am one lucky lady!” And she is.
She was born Feb. 22, 1918, in Point Breeze and graduated from Sacred Heart High School and Duquesne University. In 1941, she married James “Bud” O’Connor, and they lived in Ross and Mt. Lebanon before moving to Florida in 1977. They had four children: Jay of Naples, Fla., and Charlevoix, Mich.; Cathleen O’Connor Stechschulte of Cranberry; Meg O’Connor Graf of Doylestown, Pa., and Venice, Fla.; and Bryan of Canonsburg and Venice, Fla.
Mrs. O’Connor worked for many years with her husband at his plumbing and heating supplies business, J.B. O’Connor Co. He died in 1987 after 46 years of marriage.
Mrs. O’Connor volunteered with hospice for 20 years and was a eucharistic minister at St. Columbkille Catholic Church in Fort Myers. She keeps in touch with her 12 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren through visits, phone calls, letters, emails and photo sharing on Nixplay.com. She had three birthday parties and has a simple tip for longevity: Keep moving!
Eat, dance & be merry
Marie Dudek, who turned 100 in February, says the secret to a long life is “exercise (especially square dancing), eating right and a good laugh.”
She was born Feb. 28, 1918, the second of Mary and George Schuller’s four children. Her only surviving sibling, Joseph Schuller, lives in Fort Pierce, Fla. She attended Spring Garden Avenue Elementary and Latimer Junior High schools. After helping her father open Schuller’s grocery store on Madison Avenue, she worked there for 10 years.
In 1939, she married
If you or a friend or a relative recently turned 100 or will soon do so, the Post-Gazette would like to hear from you. To be included in Century Club, send the honoree’s biographical information and your phone number to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Century Club, Attn: Kevin Kirkland, 358 North Shore Drive, Suite 300, Pittsburgh 15212. Email: kkirkland@post-gazette.com.