Margaret Dunning - Personal Life

Personal Life

Dunning is the daughter of Charles Dunning and Elizabeth (Bessie) Rattenbury. Margaret spent her first 13 years on a dairy and potato farm owned by her father, located at the corner of Plymouth and Telegraph Roads in Redford Township, Michigan. The 156-acre (63 ha) farm had been purchased by her grandparents, who were original settlers in the area. When Charles died in 1923, Margaret and her mother, Bessie, moved into Redford and later to the village of Plymouth, Michigan. Bessie purchased property in the village and built the home where Margaret still resides. Margaret attended the country school where her father was a student, and was then sent to Dana Hall, a private school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She returned to Plymouth in 1927 and graduated from Plymouth High School in 1929. She attended the University of Michigan for two years and then studied at the Hamilton Business School in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

While growing up on the farm, Dunning developed a lifelong love of tinkering with old cars. She has lovingly restored several old cars that she still owns. In 1985, she donated a restored 1906 Ford Model N to the Gilmore Car Museum at Hickory Corners, Michigan. She also donated a 1930 Cadillac convertible to the Museum. She still drives one of her cars in the annual Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit each August.

At the age of 102, feeling a need to complete whatever she begins, she applied to University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) hoping to complete her bachelor's degree in business. Dunning was accepted, and subsequently awarded a 100% tuition scholarship, provided to her by the Fram (filter) Group (which also provided her with free car care products for the remainder of her life).