A student and employee of the University of North Texas who died last fall is being laid to rest Wednesday.
Margaret Rosa King, 67, an Air Force veteran, was working on her graduate degree in interdisciplinary studies while also working for the school as a custodian when she died last fall of natural causes related to heart disease.
King was found unresponsive near her vehicle in a campus parking lot on Sept. 14, 2017 and was transported to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Since that time the university and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office have been working to identify and locate King's next of kin.
On Wednesday afternoon, King's niece arrived at the funeral. She learned of her aunt's passing on Facebook and flew in from Atlanta. UNT officers said King's half-sister is flying in from California on Tuesday.
Because King is a veteran, the university worked with the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery to arrange for her interment. They also have organized a public funeral service for her that will be held at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 16 at the national cemetery.
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Most of what the school knows about King mostly came from her employee file and a background check. She said on her job application that she was born in Brooklyn, New York and listed Washington Irving as her high school. On her Facebook page she listed San Antonio as her hometown.
UNT said before King began working as custodian in 2016, she had an extensive academic background and obtained seven degrees including three associate's degrees, a bachelor's degree and three graduate degrees. Prior to that, King served in the U.S. Air Force from May 1971 until September 1974.
Among her accomplishments, King listed obtaining degrees from the following institutions.
King's Degrees
- Associate degree - Business - Tidewater Community College, Virginia
- Associate degree - Accounting - Tarrant County College
- Associate degree - Information Technology - Tarrant County College
- Bachelor's degree - Business - Saint Leo University, Florida
- Master's degree - Gerontology - Norfolk State University, Virginia
- Master's degree - Information Science - University of North Texas
- Master's degree - Computer Education - University of North Texas
- *Master's degree program - Interdisciplinary Studies - University of North Texas
