Margaret and fellow staffer at the Decaturian newspaper

Margaret Eby, a resident of Springfield, was recently named to the dean’s list as a senior English major at Millikin University in Decatur. She is the great-granddaughter of Lithuanian immigrant John Matekaitis. Her great-grandmother also was a Lithuanian immigrant who entered the U.S. through the port of Baltimore in the early years of the 20th Century.

Margaret’s parents are Susan and the Rev. Joseph Eby of Springfield. (Joe is the pastor at Chatham Presbyterian Church, and Susan is a member of the Greater Springfield Interfaith Association.)

I’ve never met Margaret, although I met Sue and Joe at the June 2012 picnic of the Lithuanian-American Club, as well as at a couple of Slow Food Springfield events.

Margaret appeared in a March column of the State Journal-Register. According to the SJ-R, she is co-founder, arts editor and writer for Re:Decatur, an online community newspaper for Macon County. Margaret is also arts editor and columnist for the Decaturian newspaper. You can read two of her recent columns here:

http://decaturian.com/arts/2013/04/04/seth-meyers-makes-us-laugh-cry-and-pee-our-pants/
http://decaturian.com/arts/2013/04/04/millikin-catches-glimpse-of-appalachian-and-american-history/

Update: A graduate of Rochester High School, Margaret graduated from Millikin University in May 2013 and is now a junior account executive with DCC Marketing in Decatur.