Margaret M. Potts | Store manager, 94

Margaret M. Potts, 94, of Upper Darby, died Sunday at the Broomall Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. Doctors had diagnosed dementia when she was in her 80s.

Mrs. Potts was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of first-generation immigrants from Ireland. She attended West Catholic Girls High School, but left before graduating because she wanted to earn money, her family said.

Mrs. Potts went to work at the Whitman's Candies factory, then at 606 Cherry St. Her job was to wrap the corner piece of chocolate candy.

In 1934, Mrs. Potts "eloped" to Media at 19 with Robert J. Potts. The two had met walking home from a park; they lived apart until marrying in a church in 1940. They were together for 30 years.

"The gentleman she walked home with that night she walked down the aisle with, and stayed married to her entire life," her granddaughter Christine Pulfrey said.

Mrs. Potts lived in West Philadelphia in the early 1940s, and moved to Upper Darby in 1944.

After her husband's death, Mrs. Potts returned to the workforce first as a waitress and then as branch manager of the Sperry & Hutchinson (S&H) Green Stamp store on West Chester Pike.

At night, if the store alarm sounded, she would head out to check on security, with her German shepherd, Champ, her family said.

Mrs. Potts learned typing at night school in her 60s, and earned her GED in her 70s. She was a member of St. Laurence Catholic Church in Upper Darby for 65 years, and a longtime member of the Drexelbrook Country Club.

She is survived by a son, Robert J.; a daughter, Margaret Mary Potts Pulfrey; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and nieces.

Friends may call from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. today at the Donohue Funeral Home, 8401 West Chester Pike, Upper Darby. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. today at St. Laurence Catholic Church, 8245 West Chester Pike, Upper Darby. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon.