Margaret Balfour Johnson Kistler

Margaret Balfour Johnson Kistler, 82, died peacefully supported by her loving family Sunday June 3, 2018. She showed the same strength and determination to meet everlasting life as she did in facing her daily challenges. She survived a devastating injury sustained 40 years ago on a fox hunt in Tryon, NC while riding her horse, Lady Diana. In spite of many obstacles, "Maggie" never lost her faith!

She was born in Greensboro on November 6, 1935. She was the youngest daughter of the late Iowa Christine Balfour Johnson and George E. Johnson. She was preceded in death by her oldest sister Alice Gifford, who was the founder of the Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing Program at John Hopkins in Baltimore, MD, as well as by her middle sister, Dorothy Johnson, a chemist at Research Triangle Park in Durham, NC.

An exemplary mother of three, she was married to the former Mayor of Morganton, Andrew M. Kistler II, for over 25 years. In 1957 she graduated from the 3rd Nursing Class at UNC- Chapel Hill, where her sister Alice Gifford was a founding professor. Maggie was the president of Women of Grace Episcopal Church, as well as a member of the Vestry. She taught nursing courses for the Red Cross and volunteered with the bloodmobile. She was president of Morganton Jr. Woman's Club and was an active member in her church and community.

She is survived by her son Andrew M. Kistler III and his wife Louise Weber Kistler of Charlotte, NC, and her two daughters; Margaret Christine Kistler of Seattle, WA and Dorothy Kistler Hamer and her husband A. Wilson Hamer III of Morganton, NC. She was especially proud of her four grandchildren, Mary Louise Kistler, a nurse at Duke Hospital in Durham, NC, Wilson Collett Kistler of Boston, MA, Andrew Collins Hamer of Wilmington, NC, and the recent Patton High School graduate Eliza Murphy Hamer of Morganton.

Maggie had a brilliant mind and a wicked sense of humor! May she journey on with Grace and Peace...

The graveside service will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, June 11, 2018 at Forest Hill Cemetery with the Rev. Scott A. Oxford officiating.

Donations may be sent to the Children's Home Society of NC (www.chsnc.org) or to the Humane Society (www.humanesociety.org).

Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center is assisting the family with the arrangements.