Obituaries

Mary Elizabeth Ferguson, age 87, of Carroll, Iowa, and formerly of Brewster, Nebraska, died peacefully on Saturday, March 14, 2009, at the Carroll Health Center Nursing Home in Carroll. Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 A.M., Wednesday, March 18, 2009, at St. Anselm’s Catholic Church in Anselmo. The Celebrant will be Father Jim Hunt. Lector will be Ruby Christen. The petitions will be read by great grandchildren, Megan Volquartsen and Nick Volquartsen. Gift Bearers will be great grandchildren, Cole Miller, Megan Volquartsen, and Annaliese Gypson. Mass Servers will be Shawn Christen, Gregory Christen, and Adam Christen. Communion Ministers will be Mark Christen and Paul Christen. Soloist will be Edna Lea Anderson. Pianist will be Patsy Downey. Honor Guard will be formed by granddaughters, Tana Chicarelli, Kate Gypson, Amy Volquartsen, Stacy Miller, Elizabeth Hunter, and Marcy Hunter. Casket Bearers will be Cory Anderson, Timothy Cook, Nicholas Collison, Ryan Hunter, Ross Miller, and Joe Clark. Burial will be at St. Anselm’s Cemetery in Anselmo. Visitation will be held from 9 A.M. until 11 A.M. Wednesday at the church. Memorials may be left at the church for the Sand Hills Public Schools or St. Anthony Hospice of Carroll. The Govier Brothers Mortuary of Broken Bow, Nebraska, is in charge of funeral arrangements. The Sharp Funeral Home of Carroll is in charge of local funeral arrangements. Mrs. Ferguson was born on May 7, 1921, at Broken Bow, Nebraska, the daughter of Hubert C. and Elizabeth (Loughran) Cox. She attended grade school in Broken Bow and rural schools in Custer County and graduated from Anselmo High School in Anselmo. She attended Kearney State College earning a Bachelor Degree in Elementary Education and Masters Degree in English. She and Noel Hunter from Texas were married in August 1945 while he was serving in the U.S. Army. Following his military service the couple moved to California and in 1948 they relocated to Blaine County, Nebraska. Mr. Hunter was killed in an auto accident in January 1953. On March 24, 1963, she was married to Donald F. Ferguson at St. Anselm’s Catholic Church in Anselmo. Mr. Ferguson died in December 2008. Mrs. Ferguson spent her working life in the education field. She became Blaine County School Superintendent in 1955 and later the County Welfare position was added, she resigned from those positions in 1967. She began teaching English and Language Arts at Brewster High School and when District 71 was organized she taught at Halsey until the new building for Sandhills High School was completed at Dunning. She taught at Sandhills High School and Sandhills Elementary School in Brewster and retired in 1989 after forty plus years of teaching. She often commented that the extra bond she received from her years in Blaine County classrooms was the continued love and friendship of faculty members and students. In retirement years Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson lived in North Platte, Nebraska, and moved to the Carroll, Iowa, area in December 2005 to be near their daughter. The couples ties to friends and relatives in the Sandhills area was very important to them. Survivors included her daughters, Margaret Clark and her husband Joe of Carroll, Iowa, and Franci Alves and her husband Joe of Dixon, Calif.; daughter-in-law, Janice Hunter of North Platte, Nebr.; eight grandchildren, Tana Chicarelli and her husband Gary, Kate Gypson and her husband Ward, Cory Anderson, Amy Volquartsen and her husband Scott, Stacy Miller and her husband Ross, Timothy Cook, Ryan Hunter and his wife Marcy, and Elizabeth Hunter and her special friend Arron Andrews; and fifteen great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; her two husbands; a son, Douglas Hunter; son-in-law, John Cook; a sister, Margaret Williams and her husband Pete; and brothers, Tim Cox and his wife Thelma, and Charlie Cox.