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Air Force veteran with ties to Hampton Roads dies alone in Texas, push is on to find her family

Posted at 4:11 PM, May 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-09 17:07:29-04

DENTON, Texas – A Texas university is trying to find any family members or friends of an Air Force veteran with ties to Hampton Roads who died on their campus last year.

Margaret Rosa King, 67, was found unresponsive near her car on the campus of University of North Texas on September 14, 2017.

Margaret King employment photo (Courtesy: University of North Texas)

She was taken to Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Denton, Texas where she was pronounced dead. Authorities with the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office later classified her death as natural as a result of heart disease.

Unfortunately, neither the University nor the medical examiner’s office have been able to locate or identify any next of kin.

King began working for UNT Facilities as a custodian in June of 2016, but she has a long list of degrees, several of which were earned in Hampton Roads. On her employment application, she indicated that after retiring from civil service, she enjoyed taking classes as a hobby.

She served in the Air Force from May of 1971 through September of 1974. King’s time in Hampton Roads was spent earning an associate’s degree in business from Tidewater Community College and a master’s degree in gerontology from Norfolk State University.

Additionally, UNT says King had a bachelor’s degree in business from Saint Leo University in Florida, an associate’s degree in accounting and information technology from Tarrant County Community College, a master’s degree in information science from UNT, and a master’s degree in computer education from UNT.

She was working on a graduate degree in interdisciplinary studies at the time of her death.

Before working at UNT, she worked as a contractor for the Department of Defense and was with the Department of Defense Naval Aviation Depot, transferring to DCCA Lockheed Martin in 1997.

When neither the coroner or law enforcement were able to find her family, the UNT Facilities Department worked with the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery to arrange for King to be buried there.

UNT has planned a funeral service for her at the cemetery next week on Wednesday, May 16th.

Anyone who may have known King is asked to contact the University of North Texas here.