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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Sara Odeen-Isbister

Gran, 99, who almost became a nun welcomes 100th great-grandchild

A grandmother once set on becoming a nun has welcomed her 100th great-grandchild.

Marguerite Koller, from Pennsylvania in the US, is celebrating the arrival of baby Koller - named after his great-grandma.

The milestone comes just two months before the 99-year-old reaches another - her 100th birthday.

Incredibly Marguerite was very close to becoming a nun - but chose to marry her husband William instead, in 1942.

Speaking to NBC 10 Philadelphia, she said: “I’m just thinking how lucky I am."

Koller, now a widow living in Bluebell outside Philadelphia, is the mother of 11 and grandmother of 56, though she herself was an only child.

Marguerite Koller and husband William with some of their 11 children (NBC 10 Philadelphia)

“I wanted to have a big family,” she said. “I think it’s difficult being an only child – it’s lonely.”

In 2015 Marguerite told WPVI: “I figured I wanted 12 but after I started to have them, I wasn’t sure I wanted that many.”

She applied for the convent as a junior in high school, but William "talked her out of it".

Christine Balster, baby Koller's mum and Marguerite's grandaughter, said she and her husband have named their child Koller William - the Koller as a tribute to his great-grandma and William in memory of her husband of 66 years.

Marguerite with baby Koller, her grandaughter Christine, who is Koller's mum, and Christine's husband (NBC 10 Philadelphia)

She told NBC: "My husband liked the name Kole.

"It felt very natural to name him Koller and William as the middle name.

"And then we can always call him Kole if we like."

Christine described Marguerite - who was born in 1922 - as a “lovely, sweet, strong lady that has created this amazing legacy spanning four generations.”

She said fitting the whole family round a table for Thanksgiving is almost impossible, so the family celebrate holidays in "heats".

Last month, Britain's largest family - the Radfords - welcomed a new addition to its brood.

Marguerite Koller's many descendants (NBC 10 Philadelphia)

Chloe Radford, 26, introduced a baby girl, to fans online, with mum and grandma, Sue, celebrating the arrival of the newest member of the Radford family.

Taking to her Instagram Stories, mum-of-22 Sue expressed her delight at becoming a grandmother once again by writing: "So proud of Chloe and Jake, she’s a little beauty, can’t wait to meet her."

Chloe meanwhile wrote on her Instagram: "6lb 2oz of pure perfection and I can’t quite believe she is ours. I am just so in love with her."

A number of fans and famous faces took the time to congratulate the star on the birth of her child.

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