Courage is a virtue. Something that many long to attain. For Margaret Zoeckler, it’s a personality trait.
Zoeckler grew up in Florence, Kentucky, a city located just fifteen minutes outside Cincinnati, Ohio. Having five siblings led to everything being a bit hectic, but she was able to push through and earn her master’s degree.
In 2002, Zoeckler made the jump and moved to Wellsburg, West Virginia, to take up a job as their city manager. She was incredibly nervous to make the move, considering she only knew one person in Wheeling through the Jaycees. Zoeckler worked in spite of her fears and pushed through with courage.
She put in long hours as the city manager, attending to the needs of the citizens, employees, and the daily operations of the city. She had a wide range of tasks delegated to her, but she always took on the responsibilities associated with her job and worked hard to see that everything was completed correctly. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse for Zoeckler when she was voted out of her position at a local council meeting. Replacing her was a man who was friends with some of the council members.
Seeing as Zoeckler didn’t have a contract, she was out the door with a police escort, “before I knew what hit me!” Zoeckler explains that she was “the victim of small-town politics.” This vicious, underhanded political takedown led to some serious setbacks in Zoeckler’s life. She went back home to Kentucky temporarily in April 2004, unsure of how her life would continue. However, against all odds, she was happily engaged to Keith Zoeckler in May of 2004, a man whom she had met through the Ohio Valley Jaycees, a leadership development and civic organization for young people aged 18-40, during her time as Wellsburg City Manager.
Choosing to be courageous, Zoeckler returned to the Ohio Valley to continue her career and start a family with her husband. In November of 2007, she gave birth to two beautiful twins—Bridget and Luke. The journey to get there was a struggle, and the complications faced afterwards were even worse.
Zoeckler explains how difficult the pregnancy she had was. She had to be hospitalized towards the end of it, and could only stomach Eggo waffles. Now, she refuses to eat the brand entirely. Due to health complications from abnormal testing, Zoeckler was informed she wasn’t allowed to leave until the babies were born. She was given medication to induce labor.
“It only made me thirsty and nauseous. I barely slept at all that night,” said Margaret Zoeckler.
Thirty-two days before the due date, she was put under for a C-section.
After the C-section, Bridget, the first of the twins to exit, had underdeveloped lungs. Luke, the second twin, came out relatively healthy. Bridget, however, had to be life-flighted to Morgantown for emergency incubation treatment. Thankfully, everything worked out fine, but had Zoeckler not made the choices she did during pregnancy, that might not have been the case.
Zoekler has had years of growth, and even today, as her children are facing the prospects of college, she remains as courageous as ever. Luke Zoeckler, one of her children, said, “Anytime I need an answer or something done, I can always rely on my mom.”
“God gives me the strength to do things I didn’t think I could, to face difficult situations and get through them, to find answers when I need help, to guide my family and so much more,” said Margaret Zoeckler.
Margaret Zoeckler is the pinnacle of courage, staring fear in the face multiple times throughout her life and persevering despite it. When we all feel a little scared, may she serve as a beacon of hope and inspiration.
