Lifelong Lawrenceville Resident Celebrates 100th Birthday

Marge Westwood, born Estelle Margaret Audley, celebrated her 100th birthday last month surrounded by her family in their home on Donson Way.

Marge and her seven children.

Born in 1926 just a few blocks from her current home, she fondly recalls playing in the alley and at the park on 57th Street with her siblings and friends.

“We played ball and [a game called] Run Sheep Run all the time,” Westwood recalls from her patio on Donson, overlooking a sloped and spacious backyard.

Two early memories centered around local disasters. One of the Great St. Patrick’s Day flood in 1936, when water levels in the city peaked at 46 feet and another of a large warehouse fire in January of 1973. Some more positive memories include dressing up and heading to the Allegheny Cemetery with her family for Sunday walks and attending church at St. Mary of the Assumption on 57th Street, now home to the 57th Street Studios.

In 1947, at 21 years old, she wed her late husband Harry at St. Kieran’s and the two remained married until his passing in 2009. In 1962, the Westwoods and their five children moved into the home she still lives in today, with two more joining soon. Her daughter, Donna and son David, live and care for her in that home with two of her other children in the Pittsburgh area, plus one in Kentucky, one in Virginia, and one in North Carolina.

For years, she worked as the sacristan at St. Mary’s Church while Harry worked a second job as a bartender at Nied’s on 55th, both dedicated to their community.

These days, Marge most enjoys sitting in her rocking chair on the back patio, waving at neighbors driving past and enjoying the peace and quiet.

“This is a really closed off part of the neighborhood. Away from the busy shops and all that in the lower ward. It’s a nice place. Your neighbors all know each other and they become more like family. It’s the way a community should be.”

She attended church on her 100th birthday in Morningside for services at St. Raphael on Chislett Street, where they celebrated her centennial. She enjoys meeting people and staying connected to the community through church, saying, “they are all really good, down to earth people around here.”

Westwood is proud to be a lifelong resident of the neighborhood and of the home she created with Harry and her children. For her 100th birthday party, most of her family gathered in the back patio to celebrate the special occasion, complete with cards, cake, and a crown.

If you happen to be driving down Carnegie Street between 56th and 57th and spot a woman in a rocking chair in her backyard, be sure to give a honk and wave to one of Lawrenceville’s true legends, Marge!