Margaret Catherine Foster, the daughter of Anna Genevieve Hemsley and Richard Giles Ford, died on September 7 at the age of 93.  The last of her generation, she was the youngest of 14 children and the beneficiary of great love and affection from her large and extended family.  She received the nickname "Mickey" not long after her birth on May 2, 1931, and was known as "Mick" or "Aunt Mick" throughout her life.

She grew up in the shadows of the U.S. Capital during a time when segregation was the norm.  As a result, she and her family drew close through their religious faith and the community provided by St. Cyprian's Church and Catholic school. Her universe consisted of family and friends living within and around her home near Eastern Market in Southeast, DC.  Her world changed when she enrolled in and graduated in 1949, from Cardoza High School, located in Northwest DC.

After graduation, she clerked for the U.S. Census Bureau as a key punch operator. Less than a year later, on February 18, 1950, she married George V. Foster, a guy from the neighborhood who had charmed her mother into approving their union. Margaret and George lived in River Terrace in a house just across the alley from George's Aunt Pearl and his grandparents; they were just blocks from his sister, Edna Frye.

By 1960, they had six children, JoAnn, Margaret, Susan, Pam, George and Patricia, and decided to make a big move out of the city. Margaret reluctantly agreed but only if she got a driver's license so that she could continue to see her family. Her trips from the country to the city, however, became fewer as she met many new friends and involved herself in her new community in Charles County, MD. She supported her husband's many interests, from hosting freedom riders during the height of the civil rights era to working with the local NAACP chapter, her children's school, church activities, and the Parkinson Society of Greater Washington. She spent endless hours with her children and grandchildren attending their school, sports and extracurricular activities. She even served as the leader of a Cub Scout den.

She continued to work outside the home, commuting to the Office of Personnel Management for years before retiring in 1979.  Shortly thereafter, she began working for the priests at Sacred Heart Catholic Church where she also served as a member of the Gospel Choir, the Ladies Sodality, and the Ladies Auxiliary #301.

She loved eating crabs in the summer, vacationing in Ocean City, MD and just hanging out with family and friends.  She learned to grow a garden, knit, crochet and do a variety of arts and crafts from people she befriended over the years. She is perhaps best known for folding shirts out of dollar bills and making and sharing a Kitty Litter Cake at a summer outing.

Margaret is survived by three daughters, JoAnn Queen, Susan G. Foster, and Mary Pamela Foster; three sons, George V. Foster Jr. (Saundra), Stephen E. Foster (Tera), and Matthew B. Foster (Stephanie); 13 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren, two great, great grandchildren; a sister-in-law, Barbara I. Ford, many nieces, nephews, and a host of other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, the Rev. Mr. George V. Foster, Sr., her daughters, Margaret C. Foster-Massey and Patricia Eileen Foster, her granddaughter, Victoria Woods-Brewer,  her parents, and her 13 brothers and sisters: Louise Graham, Julia Ford, Anna Harris, Agnes Roberta Brown, Bertha Regina Holman, Charles Richard Ford, William Joseph Ford, James Thomas Ford, Raymond Ford, Frances B. Dyer, Elva Marita Yates, John Harrison Ford, and Louis Giles Ford.

Her Viewing will be, 9:00 am until Mass of Christian Burial, 10:00 am, Friday, September 20, 2024, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 201 St. Mary's Avenue, La Plata, Maryland 20646.  Interment, Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 1300 Bladensburg Road, NE,  Washington, DC.

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