Margaret Constance Twarozynski

Margaret Constance Twarozynski, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother departed this life peacefully and was welcomed into heaven on November 17, 2019. Named after her paternal grandmother, Margaret was born on January 9, 1934 in Saginaw, Michigan to the late Mary F. McIntyre McKenna from Prince Edward Island, Canada, and Joseph F. McKenna from Lynn Massachusetts. Margaret was a graduate of St. Mary Cathedral High School class of 1952. She went on to attend St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing where she was junior and senior class president and graduated with honors in obstetrics in 1955. She became an instructor, night supervisor, and Assistant Director of Nursing Services at St. Mary’s Hospital. She also attended New York University/ Bellevue Medical Center with a focus on rehabilitation nursing. Margaret met her husband, Thad, while he was a patient at St. Mary’s hospital. They married in 1958 and moved to East Lansing where they raised their five children. After settling down in East Lansing, Margaret took on the position of surgical nursing instructor at St. Lawrence Hospital School of Nursing in Lansing. A devout Catholic, she was a parishioner of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in East Lansing for more than 50 years and was very active in the Altar Society and volunteered much of her time to the church and elementary school which her children attended. She belonged to the Right to Life of Lansing and Michigan and was a member and officer of the Catholic War Veterans Auxiliary Post 1654. She volunteered often at the local hospital with her husband Thad. She was also a Lansing representative for the Women in Military Service for America to assist in locating female veterans to be part of the women’s memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Margaret took an impassioned interest in her ancestry and spent many hours researching, compiling and documenting information on the McKenna and Twarozynski family trees, passing onto her family a gift that will be treasured for years to come. She also loved to travel, enjoying trips as a child with her family to Massachusetts and Prince Edward Island, where her parents grew up. She was also fortunate to have taken many trips with her siblings, including out East to visit relatives. With her children often moving all over the country, she and Thad were able to visit many states and she was able to scratch off having visited at least 26 states. She also loved spending time with her family, especially summers with them at the McKenna Lake Sanford cottage.

Margaret is survived by her children who will miss her dearly: son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Kim Twarozynski; son and daughter-in-law, Daniel and Beth Twarozynski; daughter and son-in-law Tricia and David DeClercq; son and daughter-in-law, James and Tracy Twarozynski; and daughter and son-in-law Stephanie & Lance Lacombe. She will be loved and missed by 12 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her loving and devoted husband of 52 years, Thad, parents Joseph and Mary McKenna, brothers Wallace, Joseph, John and Francis, and sisters Ruth, Mary Florence, and Patricia.

Margaret’s family wishes to extend their profound thank you to all those who cared for her this past year, especially the kind and compassionate caregivers and staff at Fairview Adult Foster Care, Independence Village of Grand Ledge, Premier Hospice & Home Health and Home Instead Senior Care. Also, a special thank you to Fr. James Eisele and the parish of St. Michael Church of Grand Ledge. We are so appreciative for the gentle care, compassion and thoughtfulness each of you showed Margaret. It was through the simple acts of talking with her, praying with her, providing her companionship and just holding her hand that bestowed upon her a loving environment for a peaceful passing. Her family will not forget the support and genuine kindness shown by everyone during a difficult time.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday, November 22, 2019, at 11:00am at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 955 Alton Road, East Lansing. Interment will follow at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Lansing. The family will receive friends and loved ones on Thursday, November 21, 2019 from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, 1730 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing.

Memorials may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the American Heart Association or St. Thomas Aquinas Church in East Lansing.