Just a few months before turning 100, a 99-year-old grandmother welcomed her 100th great-grandchild.
Marguerite “Peg” Koller, a citizen of Pennsylvania, recently got to meet Koller William Balster, the 100th great-grandchild.
According to a report from Good Morning America, the newest member of the family was born on August 4.
Peg, the matriarch of the family, was reported “extremely happy” at the birth of young Koller, even though she is no stranger to embracing great-grandchildren into the family.
William, Peg’s late husband, and she had 11 kids together. They had 56 grandchildren later on, who in turn gave Peg a whopping 100 great-grandchildren.
A 99-year-old woman is celebrating something not a lot of people can brag about: her 100th great-grandchild. Peggy Koller recently met the baby boy who was christened Koller William Balster, named after her husband: https://t.co/1OiwBuH0Hq đź’• pic.twitter.com/2AHGLMzK00
— Local 12/WKRC-TV (@Local12) August 16, 2022
However, it wasn’t clear for a time if Koller would land the 100th position. According to his mother Christine Stokes Balster, neither she nor her cousin Colleen could be positive whether their child would be Peg’s 100th great-grandchild because they were both expecting to give birth around the same time.
“It was a race to 100. My cousin Colleen and I were just a day apart [for] our due dates, and she had the 99th great-grandchild, who is absolutely healthy and beautiful,” Christine said.
She added that they are “just grateful, blessed to have another few babies joining this great family.”
99-year-old Pennsylvania woman meets her 100th great-grandchild https://t.co/1fRcpSeUFa pic.twitter.com/ihrVNl5Zl0
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) August 15, 2022
Peg may now start looking forward to her next major milestone—turning 100 in November—after having amassed 100 grandchildren.
Even though it might be difficult to believe now, the matriarch’s vast family nearly didn’t exist. When she was a young girl, Peg had her heart set on living a childless life in a monastery and becoming a nun.
According to Metro, Peg only changed her mind about not donning the veil after meeting her future husband William and being persuaded by him to get married and create a family.
In the end, Peg and William had so many kids that it was practically difficult to gather everyone together at once.
In order for everyone to have time to spend with one another, Christine emphasized that the family has to complete significant events in “heat.”