Sister Margaret Gardner, former special educator in Baltimore, dies at 103

A memorial Mass will be offered Feb. 28 for Sister of St. Francis of Assisi Margaret Gardner (formerly Sister Mary David) at St. Francis Convent in Saint Francis, Wisc. Sister Margaret, who worked in special education at St. Elizabeth School in Baltimore, died Jan. 24, three days shy of her 104th birthday.

Born in Lubec, Maine, she professed vows as a Sister of St. Mary’s Abbey, Mill Hill Abbey, England (later the Franciscan Sisters of Baltimore) in 1943.

Sister Margaret was a house parent for boys at St. Elizabeth Home (1949-1959) and a special education teacher at St. Elizabeth School (1961-1965).

For 41 years, Sister Margaret taught at elementary schools in Baltimore, New York, North Carolina and Virginia.

In retirement, she served as a volunteer in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore until she moved to Wisconsin in 2017.

In 2001, the Franciscan Sisters of Baltimore merged with the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi in Saint Francis, Wisc.

She donated her body to the Medical College of Wisconsin. 

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