Woman welcomes 100th great-grandchild ahead of her 100th birthday
A 99-year-old woman has celebrated her 100th birthday early, with the arrival of her 100th great-grandchild.
Marguerite Koller, from Pennsylvania in the US, will be celebrating becoming a centenarian in the coming months.
However, Marguerite and her family are marking the occasion early with the birth of her 100th great-grandchild, Koller William, named after her late husband.
“I'm just thinking how lucky I am,” Marguerite told NBC Philadelphia as she held the newest addition to the family, which also includes 11 children and 56 grandchildren.
She makes the effort to be there for every baptism and graduation, her family has said in the past, and “has created an amazing legacy spanning through generations,” her granddaughter, Christine Balster, told the local news station.
However, Marguerite’s large family almost didn’t happen, as she planned to join a convent and become a nun.
She applied to join the local convent when she was a junior in high school, she told 6 ABC back in 2015, but by the early 1940s, she met William Koller, who she said “talked me out of it.”
The couple then welcomed their first child in the Baby Boom after World War II, when Marguerite knew she wanted to have a large family.
“I wanted to have a big family. I think it's difficult being an only child — it's lonely.”
The couple went on to have 11 children over the span of almost 20 years.
Their kids then had a total of 56 grandchildren, who are now the parents of 100 great-grandchildren.
She has since credited that big family with keeping her active, and making her feel blessed every holiday even after her husband died in 2008.
“It worked out beautifully,” she said.
Image credits: Youtube - NBC Philadelphia