03/22/2019
Mrs. Margaret Battle-Wi******er was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 24, 1920 to Edward and Mary Noble Battle. She re-located to Bridgeton, NJ with her parents and 10 siblings at an early age. Shortly after graduating high school in 1939, she married Albert Wi******er and together they were blessed with five children, Albert Jr., Gerald, Franklin, Margaret, and Donna.
Mrs. Wi******er is very proud of being a faithful and loyal servant who is very active in her church Union Baptist Temple, where she has been a dedicated member since 1932.
Along with raising her family and her many church activities, Mrs. Wi******er was also involved in several community programs. Her efforts included being a co-leader for the local 4-H Club for over 5 years, serving on the Head Start steering committee, volunteer coordinator of a community nutrition site, and the prison ministry.
For many years she worked at the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot and at the Cherry St. School Head Start program where she was employed as a cook.
An unfortunate experience at the age of 29 forced Mrs. Wi******er to acknowledge that her eyesight was severely impaired. Upon seeking medical intervention, she was advised that she had Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative and irreversible eye condition.
Relying on her inner qualities of strength and determination, inspired by faith, she continued to expertly manage her household and parenting responsibilities. She soon was driven to seek out others in her rural community who were also experiencing vision loss. She encouraged them to not allow their loss of eyesight diminish their sense of self-worth and she provided instruction in the techniques she herself used to maintain independence in the successful performance of daily living activities.
Whenever Mrs. Wi******er was called, she would visit people who’d loss their vision and dreamed of one day having a place where she could bring all of the people she’d been mentoring together. In 1978, with the support of Chuck Fisher- Director of the Cumberland County Board of Chosen Freeholders, her family, close friend Gladys Pierce and NJCBVI, she realized her dream of establishing a day-program where people who are blind can come and participate in activities and programs designed to improve their quality of life.
Her desire to expand the day program’s ability to meet the growing needs of the numbers of people coming to take advantage of the day program inspired Mrs. Wi******er’s greater efforts, resulting in the building of the current MARGARET WI******ER ENRICHMENT CENTER FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED, INC. The center, which is located at 168 Sunny Slope Drive, Bridgeton, NJ, was dedicated on October 17, 1990.
Photo: Wi******er Enrichment Center
Mrs. Wi******er, who served on the Commission’s Board of Trustees for several years, has been recognized innumerable times for her service to her community and was the recipient of a national award for working older Americans, which was presented to her by President Bush. She was not only the founder and President of the Enrichment Center’s Board of Directors – she also served as the Daily Supervisor of Operations up until, she retired at the age of 88.
The center program operates five days a week with special programs activities sometimes presented on weekends.
The center’s mission: “Our clients have a right to expect to be provided with tools and ways to utilize the best that our rapidly changing society has to offer. It is this agency’s continuing obligation to make those ways available. Together we can move closer and closer toward reaching these goals.”
At the age of 98, you may still find Mrs. Wi******er at the center inspiring and encouraging every person who walks through the door.
