Full disclosure, Peggy is my personal hero…my Mother! Daughter of Scottish and Irish immigrants, Peggy was born in Chicago in 1933.

The family moved to New Rochelle NY , to be near relatives in a large Irish Catholic neighborhood. She attended New Rochelle High School, and inspired by the works of Pearl S. Buck, imagined herself going to far away lands as a missionary.

But that was not how things turned out. The family returned to Chicago, where she met a charming young Irishman with two small girls, fell head over heels, and got married.

They raised six children, and often had one or two grandparents living with them. Life was good in their large Irish neighborhood, with friends dropping in all the time, as was the norm in those days. There was always a treat kept handy for company.

Since they had just one car, Peggy would get all six children on the bus to go on field trips to the art Institute, or the beach. She practiced yoga, and ran around the block for exercise long before it was the thing to do.

Peggy later shared a job in downtown Chicago with another woman and did bookkeeping half days, so she could be home with her kids after school. When they got older, she began to work full time.

After working as a bookkeeper, then computer librarian, in 1969 she was promoted by Quaker Oats and became the first woman computer programmer in her office.

She may have invented ‘take your children to work day’ because she encouraged her kids to stop by the downtown Chicago office and see what she did.

Widowed at 45, with one child still at home, Peggy continued to work. At 58, she was offered a profit share bonus and excellent pension to take early retirement and she took the offer.

Elderhostel was offering a three week tour through Greece, then Christmas in Bethlehem and New Years in the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt and she used her bonus to take the first of many trips abroad.

At 79 she got her ears pierced, and for her 80th birthday, her granddaughter Maggie designed a tattoo for her and took her to get it done.

She now lives in a nursing home, where she volunteers as resident representative, helping to see that the needs of each person on the floor are met.

Peggy has 6 children, 11 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren, and 2 great great grands. Most of them were in Chicago to celebrate her 90th birthday.

Her advice for young women. Stand up for yourself, keep harmony in your house and give your children some kind of religious or spiritual upbringing, which focuses on love. She would like to be remembered as a kind woman, who would rather forgive than hold a grudge. Her attitude says it all…she decided she would love living in the nursing home before she got there, and she does!