A Century in Ann Arbor

Tabi Walters

“I love Ann Arbor for its ability to move forward with an open heart,” says Margaret Laird. “That’s what Ann Arbor is.”

She should know: At 102, Laird is likely the person who has lived here the longest. (Ann Arbor’s oldest-ever resident, Margaret Otto, lived to 103, but spent only seventy-six years in the city.) In many ways, Ann Arbor has grown up alongside her.

Born in a house just off Miller, Margaret attended Mack School, then Ann Arbor High School (now Pioneer). She later walked to U-M—the first in her family to attend college—and graduated top of her business school class, a rare feat for a woman at the time. 

Margaret’s parents, E.J. and Mae Laubengayer, founded the Washtenaw Dairy, and she learned to drive behind the wheel of its big blue delivery truck. As a teenager, she also put in hours at her uncle’s business, Quality Bakery, where Palio now sits. 

In high school, Margaret sat in alphabetical order next to John Laird, her future husband. They married in 1948 and built a life downtown. John became a successful lawyer and city councilmember. Margaret, armed with an accounting degree, kept his books, cofounded Huron Valley Swim Club, and led a commission to plant trees across town. She was also named a U-M Outstanding Woman Alumna. All three of her children attended U-M, as did most of her grandchildren. 

Margaret Laird has watched Ann Arbor change for a century, but the heart of it, she insists, has stayed the same—the progressive culture, the spirit of activism, and the “love affair” between the town and the university. Her secret to a long life? Good genes, of course, but also a commitment to the people and places around her.

“Being engaged and caring about my family, Ann Arbor, and the world for as long as possible,” she says.’

From Calls & Letters, July 2026

An Oversight for the Ages

Scarlett London’s pleasant piece on Margaret Laird (“A Century in Ann Arbor,” June 2026) states in an aside that Margaret Otto was Ann Arbor’s oldest-ever resident. Mrs. Otto passed in 1948 at age 103 and may well have been the longest-living resident at the time, but others have outlived her since, including my great-aunt Agnes Warren who passed in 2015 at age 108. Mrs. Warren was born in Scotland in 1906, emigrated with her family to the U.S. in 1909, and married and moved to Ann Arbor in 1937, living here for seventy-eight years. She and her husband Eric raised six children and owned a business here. Aunt Agnes was well-known as an accomplished piano player, playing throughout her life. From age eighty-four to 104 she performed at senior residences and other local venues, bringing joy to others, and was honored several times as a “Volunteer of the Year.”

—Her grandniece Pam