Her funeral is this week, but no family has been found to mourn her

Did you know Margaret Rosa King?

She was a University of North Texas graduate student and custodial employee, and was found dead of natural causes related to heart disease in a school parking lot last fall.

But UNT officials are still searching for any of King's family members and hoping they'll turn up before her funeral on Wednesday.

Police investigating her background found out she was born in Brooklyn. She listed San Antonio as her hometown on her Facebook profile, and she was working on her third master's degree at UNT during her retirement after a 30-year career in civil service.

But no one in any of those three places, or anywhere else, for that matter, has come forward to claim her as family or friend.

King died Sept. 14 at age 67 while working and attending school at UNT. After the Tarrant County medical examiner and Denton police were unable to find any relatives, UNT personnel picked up the search.

She started working at UNT in the summer of 2016, after a decades-long career in civil service, according to her job application. She also evidently had a life-long love of learning.

After a three-year stint in the Air Force noted on her job application to UNT, King went on to accumulate six degrees — two associate's, one bachelor's and two master's, UNT spokeswoman Leigh Gullett said via email.

But she couldn't stay away from the college environment, even in her retirement.

She was working as a custodian and studying for a graduate degree in interdisciplinary studies at UNT when she collapsed next to her car last September, Gullett said. King's two master's degrees both came from UNT: one in information science, and the other in computer education.

Since no one else stepped forward, the UNT Facilities department has arranged a funeral service for King at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery on Wednesday, Gullett said.

"We are hopeful that by sharing this information with as many media outlets in her previous locations as possible, that we may be able to reach family or friends who would like to know of her passing," Gullett said.

Was she the last member of her family? Or estranged from other family members? Was she simply a loner?

Those questions may never be answered. If they're not answered before Wednesday, it'll be the University of North Texas that gives her one final goodbye.

Anyone with information about King's relatives is asked to contact the medical examiner at 817-920-5700.

This story was originally published May 11, 2018 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Her funeral is this week, but no family has been found to mourn her."