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Margaret Sikora didn't get her GED certificate until she was in her 80s, but you wouldn't know it to meet her.
“She didn't have a degree or anything, but she was always learning,” said her daughter, Anna Marie Sikora. “Most people thought she was a librarian or a schoolteacher when they talked to her.”
Mrs. Sikora had to drop out of high school to take care of her parents but returned for her certificate many years later.
“She was very energetic. She always strived to improve herself,” said her son, Frank Sikora.
Margaret H. Sikora, 96, of Ligonier died Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, in Greensburg Care Center.
She spent her time working to improve her life and the lives of her children and those around her.
“It was her God-given ability, and that's how she was raised. Back then, you did for people,” her daughter said.
Mrs. Sikora was a devout member of St. Paul Parish and a former member of the Rosary Altar Society and Bible study group at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church.
She volunteered at Red Cross blood drives at Westmoreland Hospital and as a reader for the Westmoreland Blind Association.
Anna Marie and Frank Sikora's biological mother died when they were young. Their father, Edward Sikora, hired Margaret as a housekeeper. She quickly grew to love him and his children, and she and Edward were married.
“She fell in love with us kids, and she thought we needed a mother,” Anna Marie Sikora said. “I was blessed.”
Even in her old age, as she struggled with diabetes and other illnesses while living at the Greensburg Care Center, she never stopped encouraging others, Anna Marie Sikora said.
“She would walk around in the hallways with her walker. People didn't think she would walk again. And she would walk around the hall and visit everybody,” she said.
Mrs. Sikora never received awards or plaudits for her efforts, but she quietly worked to help others without expecting recognition, her son said.
“It's just your average individual doing their part to make the world a better place to live in. And in today's day and age, that's important,” he said.
Margaret Sikora was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Sikora. She is survived by her children, Frank E. Sikora of Latrobe and Anna Marie Sikora of Ligonier; and three grandchildren, Frank Jr., Faith and Brittany Sikora.
Prayers will begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in the Leo M. Bacha Funeral Home, 516 Stanton St., Greensburg, followed by a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. in St. Paul Parish.
Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646 or jtierney@tribweb.com.
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