Margot Veronica Hastings (Breslin)

Margot Veronica Hastings (Breslin) of Turbotville, Pennsylvania, beloved mother, grandmother and sister, passed into our Blessed Mother’s arms on October 25, 2021, at her daughter’s home in San Francisco, following a long illness. Margot was a force of nature to the very end, listening to Rachmaninoff, her daughter’s poetry readings, arguing politics with her son in law and grandson, and planning her return to her beloved farm in Pennsylvania.

Margot was born April 11, 1937, in Clifton Forge, Virginia, the third of four “sterling” daughters of the late Col. John F. Breslin, M.D. and Hilda B. Smith, of Turbotville.  Margot grew up an “army brat” on military bases around the country and the world including the Philippines at the outbreak of WWII as a little girl, and Germany as a young woman after the war. She was a straight A student who loved to think, talk politics, and read history books. She attended the University of Maryland in Munich where she received an award for best student. She completed her college work while pregnant with her daughter at the University of Arizona with a BA in French, followed by a Masters in French from Georgetown University.Margot married then Captain Wallace H. Hastings, Jr. in 1959, and had one daughter, Valarie, before divorcing in the early 60s.

Margot was a fiercely independent woman, a single-mother-trailblazer with an amazing and successful career. She started as a high school history teacher in Huntsville, Alabama, where her students lovingly nicknamed her “Axis Mar-got” for her lessons on World War II. She worked as an editor at RCA for the space program in Huntsville until her career path took her to Capitol Hill. She became the first female Legislative Assistant, ever, working for the late Congressman John S. Wold of Wyoming. She later worked at the Department of Agriculture, the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Department of Energy in Congressional Affairs, earning the rank of GS 16, a rare accomplishment for a woman in the 80s. If you knew her, though, Margot would tell you her greatest achievements were her daughter, a writer and attorney, and her grandson, Jonathan. She was never prouder than the day she saw him graduate from Tulane University in 2017. Margot retired to her parents’ farm in Turbotville in 2003, where she loved attending auctions, gardening and rescuing many lucky dogs and cats. She was also a rescuer of people. She had a heart the size of the Alleghenies. And she will be forever missed by the many whose hearts she touched.  She is home, at last.

Margot is survived by her daughter, Valarie Hastings Jonas and son in law, Kent Jonas, her grandson Jonathan Macht, step-grandson Caleb Jonas (Lauren), two great grandchildren, Anika and Ezra, her three sisters Rosemary Digrazia (John), Judy McDonald, and Karen Fisher, eight nieces and nephews, eight grand nieces and nephews and one great grandnephew, her beloved dog Beebe and her two cats, Mattie and Lucy.

Friends will be received from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, November 11 at Grenoble’s, 121 S. Main St. Muncy, where a Rosary will be recited at 5 p.m.  Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, November 12 at Our Lady of Lourdes, 800 Mulberry  St. Montoursville with Father Michael McCormick officiating.

Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Montoursville.

Flowers may be sent to the Grenoble Funeral Home in Muncy, PA or, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Margot’s memory to the SPCA.

The family also wishes to thank Dr. Paul Lindenfeld at UCSF and the wonderful and loving nurses, doctors and aids at By the Bay Hospice in S.F. for their peerless care and support of Margot and in particular, Marcella.

Please note that masks will be required for all events celebrating Margot’s life.