Incredible: 99-Year-Old Woman Meets Her 100th Great-Grandchild
One might wonder if Marguerite “Peg” Koller was thinking about the popular verse found in the book of Psalms when she decided to get married and start a large family:
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate,” Psalm 127:3-5, ESV.
The 99-year-old-woman, also known as “grandmom” to Christine Stokes Balster and her husband Patrick Balster, had the pleasure of welcoming her 100th great-grandchild into the world earlier this month.
Koller had 11 children of her own. From those children, she had the joy of welcoming 56 grandchildren.
“I wanted to have a big family. I think it’s difficult being an only child – it’s lonely,” Koller told WPVI-TV.
Peg will be turning 100 in November, so the Balsters wanted to make the birth of their son even more special than just his birth order among all the other great-grandchildren.
“We wanted to do like a name that was equally significant. I’ve always loved the name Cole,” Patrick Balster told Good Morning America. “And Chris one day was like, ‘Hey, how about Koller? This could be baby number 100 for great-grandmom.'”
“We thought about Koller and we went for Koller William … William Koller was her grandfather’s name [Peg Koller’s late husband, who died in 2008]. And then ‘William’ is also on my side of the family, I’m fourth-generation William, middle name. So we’re like, it just made sense. It felt good,” Patrick said.
The couple made a point of bringing little Koller to meet his great-grandmom shortly after Christine and Koller were released from the hospital.
“You could feel the emotion and the gratitude and [she] just felt blessed again that she got to hold yet another great-grandbaby, and this one named after my grandfather,” Christine said.
Peg is amazingly spry, especially for someone who is nearly 100. The Balsters said they believe the keys to her excellent quality of life are her beautiful family, her deep faith and her twice daily exercise routine.
