(1940-2019)

Someone who loved children, especially babies; friend to those most in need of help; a caring, generous woman with a sense of humor: those were some of the ways in which Sister Mary Ann Ferguson was remembered by other Adrian Dominican Sisters at the time of remembrance held after her passing.

Sister Mary Ann was born on August 10, 1940, in the small Detroit enclave of Hamtramck, in a neighborhood near Detroit City Airport. She was the oldest of eight children born to Edmund and Lydia (Wyborny) Ferguson. After her came Edmund Jr., Ronald, Jacqueline, Thomas (who died as a baby), Kenneth, Gwendolyn, and Timothy.

Edmund, who had come to Detroit from Houghton, Michigan, worked at Garwood Industries, which was owned by the legendary Detroit powerboat racer Gar Wood.  Lydia, a Detroit native, was a typist for the R.L. Polk Company, producer of business directories.

Having both parents in the workforce meant that the Ferguson children were often looked after by their grandparents. And, as the oldest child, Mary Ann was expected to help with many of the tasks around the house – which she did not mind one bit. “I was eager to learn household chores from my grandmother and mother,” Sister Mary Ann said in her life story. “’Little Mom’ was my nickname.”

Read more about Sister Mary Ann (pdf)  

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221.