Margaret Middleton

Sister Margaret Frances Middleton, SNDdeN was born in Andover, Massachusetts, the youngest of four children. Her parents were Scottish immigrants— mother Frances was from Dundee and father Albert hailed from Brechin. She describes Andover in the mid-1900s as a wonderful town with close-knit neighborhoods where caring and observant parents fostered wholesome development. 

Educated by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur for 12 years at St. Augustine Grammar School and St. Mary’s High School, Sister Margaret also took piano lessons at the convent on Saturdays. Those experiences gave her, as she says, “a special inclination to the Sisters.” Although she once expected to become a nurse, with the encouragement of a high school teacher she entered the community as a postulant in 1955. 

Her first mission was teaching elementary grades at St. Margaret’s Parish in Beverly Farms, where her earliest letter home included a story about fire trucks mistakenly arriving at the convent—an adventure she never forgot. 

After five years in the classroom, Sister Margaret had the chance to chase her original dream of working in health care when she volunteered to train as an infirmarian. With another Sister, she studied under the Sisters of Bon Secours in Methuen before returning to care for her own community. Since 1963, she has ministered to elderly and infirm Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Worcester, Ipswich and beyond. 

“Working with our elderly and infirm Sisters has been a gift to me from our good God,” she says. “Caring for so many women who had totally dedicated their lives to God … has been an enriching experience.” 

As she reflects on her long vocation, Sister Margaret prays for the future: “My hope is that the good God will continue to bless the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur with vocations to enable us to continue His work with the poor.” 

She treasures the wisdom of the congregation’s foundress, St. Julie Billiart: “If you want God to be always with you, be always with God.” 

Updated in 2025