Margaret Bell Apatini

Margaret was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 17, 1971 and spent her early years on Moss St. on Bayou St. John. She was named Margaret Kristine for her mother Veronica’s adventurous best friend, and she embraced this spirit. Even as a child, she expressed the individuality, resilience, and intelligence she navigated life with. She would hang lizards and cicada shells from her ears, hide crystals in her backyard, and devour stories at an impressive pace, embracing every excitement life had in her hungry pursuit for joy and knowledge. This strength allowed her to reach the goals she strived for—whether it was in her home, her relationships, or her job—and to continuously inspire everyone lucky enough to know her.

As a child Margaret knew she wanted to be a mom, and when she fulfilled that dream she more than excelled. She gave birth to four children, Claire, Max, Joshua and Libby. Margaret was a mother whose children always knew they would be protected and encouraged. She was unabashedly herself, and as her children grew, they learned how lucky they are to have a mother who taught them to take pride in such a trait. Her home was a place where everyone could bring their friends to dinner. Her children are, as she said, her magnum opus. She has passed onto them an enduring heart, with gifts of intelligence, love of reading, beauty, creativity, the ability to make something from nothing, and the persistence to survive whatever life brings with grit and laughter.

Margaret's professional legacy was as remarkable as her role as a mother. A trailblazer in her field, she left an indelible mark on countless lives throughout her career. After graduating from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Master's in Accounting, Margaret found her true calling as the Assistant Dean of Finance at the Tulane School of Medicine. In this role, she transformed administrative systems and elevated numerous programs, becoming a beacon of wisdom and support that revolutionized academic medicine. Margaret's colleagues at Tulane speak of her with reverence, her name synonymous with integrity, brilliance, and compassion. Her impact on Tulane will be felt for generations to come, her legacy living on through the lives she touched and the systems she perfected.

Margaret possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of recipes from around the world, relishing the creation of meals to share with those she loved. Food was her love language — her plates expertly prepared and seasoned with herbs she tended herself in the bathtub garden out front. Anyone fortunate enough to enjoy her dishes would say she should have been a chef, to which she would reply that she wanted her love of cooking to stay a passion and not a job. She used this skill to gather friends and family in the home she poured years of love into, creating her own personal community. By her side in this community stood Andre, the devoted husband she spent many years of her life with and was lucky enough to marry in May of 2021. Together, their home is a staple in the minds of so many throughout this city.

Margaret went to incredible measures to beat her cancer and gain more time to live. To her, resilience was about more than survival — it was a form of self-respect. She carried this resilience not just in her fight with cancer, but throughout her life, practicing it until the very end. She was cared for by her children, her husband Andre, her sister Abe, her parents, her friends, her oncologist Kendra Harris and the staff of MD Anderson and Tulane Medical Center. She participated in clinical trials to try to gain her health and to contribute to science. Science was her religion and she learned everything there is to know about cancer, reading the newest studies the day they dropped.

Margaret, or Marge as her kids often call her, was a reader, a learner, and a world-class problem-solver. She loved to spot patterns that she could fix and perfect. She wrangled tradesmen like a general contractor. She challenged her children to excellence. She was a perfectionist with sky-high standards for herself and everyone around her, and also cursed like a sailor and liberally gave the middle finger with a salty smile. We will forever miss her.

Margaret embraced her last Mardi Gras with lust for life, in a purple velvet corset and witch’s hat as she walked in the streets feeling the incredible joy of New Orleans. The day after Mardi Gras 2024, she said her life was complete, she had done everything she came to do: she’d raised her four children and found the love of her life, Andre. She said, “I had the life I truly wanted. I was so lucky, I had the whole cake and all the frosting. Any more time I get beyond this is just the cherry on top. Of course I want to stay longer and see my children in their adulthood and be a grandmother, but if this is all I get, I’m happy.”

She was a fighter, and she ended her life at peace.

Margaret is survived by her parents Veronica Field Young and Edward Ray Young, by her husband Andre Apatini, by her children: Claire Louise, Maxfield Brenner, Joshua Eiler, Libby Louise, and her stepchildren, Olivia and Paul Apatini, by her siblings, countless friends and her pets: two naughty dogs — Millicent and Newton — and her grumpy cat, Naran.

To send support and consolations in appreciation of Margaret Bell Apatini, please make a donation to the United Breast Cancer Foundation in her name. She’s proud of all of you, and she loves you.