Martha S. "Pat" Ferguson - In Celebration of a Life Well Lived
Martha S. Ferguson, beloved mother and grandmother, known to her family and friends as "Patsy" or "Pat", died peacefully in her sleep on July 5, 2020 in Gladwyne PA.
Her life's journey took her on a fulfilling and adventurous path, and, ultimately full circle back to her childhood home.
Pat was born on March 1, 1929, and raised on Idlewild Farm in Bryn Mawr, PA by her parents Lawrence and Dorothy (Love) Saunders. She was the oldest of 5 siblings (brothers Grier and Morton, sisters Nancy Gayle and Sally). She attended Baldwin School, where she excelled at sports, especially tennis, and was nationally ranked as a teenager. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1951, and attended Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing, where she met her future husband, Jim Ferguson, who was an intern at MGH at the time.
Pat and Jim were married in 1952 in Bryn Mawr, and the first chapters in their life together followed Jim's medical and academic career — Quonset Point Naval Air Station (son Terry born in 1953), Belmont MA (son Bill born in 1955), Cleveland OH (daughter Gayle born in 1957), and Swarthmore PA. Summers were spent in Woods Hole, where she had also spent her childhood summers, and in the late 1950's Jim and Pat purchased their own summer home in Falmouth MA (daughter Kate born in 1961); this house has continued to serve as an anchor point for the entire family.
Pat and Jim's journey became a bit more ... adventurous ... as the family spent a sabbatical year in Germany from 1964-65, while Jim worked at the Biochemistry Institute at the University of Freiburg. Moving four young children (and 8 large steamer trunks) for a full year to a new country, not speaking German (at least at the start), with no clear notion of where you were going to live or where the kids were going to go to school ... This was the kind of leap-of-faith-once-in-a lifetime experience that Pat enthusiastically embraced — and it was a wonderful, magical year for the whole family.
After returning from Germany, Pat and Jim moved from Swarthmore back to Bryn Mawr, to a newly built house on Amies Lane, next to Idlewild Farm where her parents still lived. The ensuing interlude from 1967 to the late 1980s saw children educated, grown, and launched into lives and families of their own, and the transition from "Mom" and "Mutti" (German for Mother) to "Oma" (German for Grandmother). By then Pat's world had branched out to include deeper involvement in a number of her other interests - the US Tennis Association (chair umpire at professional tournaments; she vividly recalled being sworn at by llie Nastase in five different languages), The Baldwin School (trustee), and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Board of Women Visitors). She also served as the Associate Chair for the University Hospital Antiques Show in Philadelphia for many years.
Pat's life expanded in a whole new direction in the early 1970s, as she took some of her children's initial involvement in the sport of rowing to a whole new level, and she left her own indelible imprint on the world of rowing, especially international women's rowing. She was actively involved in the Schuylkill Navy, and became the fourth woman in the world (and the first woman in the English-speaking world) to be certified by FISA as an International Referee.
Pat was the only US rowing judge selected for the 1980 Moscow Olympics (although she did not attend due to the boycott), the only woman selected as a rowing judge for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and she served as a special liaison for FISA at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Pat received multiple awards from the US Rowing foundation, was inducted in the Rowing Hall of Fame in 1996, and the New England Women's Hall of Fame in 2002, and (to her great joy) had one of the US Women's National team quadruple sculls named for her.
By the late 1980's she and Jim had moved to Washington DC, for yet another chapter in their lives, as Jim took a position at the National Library of Medicine. Pat continued her active involvement in rowing and charities; she served as President for St. John's Community Services and on the Women's Board of the Washington Performing Arts Society. Life took a somewhat harsher turn with Jim's death in 2001, but she continued as loving family matriarch, involved in charity and community activities within the Beltway and traveling every summer up to her beloved Cape Cod house, where she welcomed children, grandchildren and friends from around the country and abroad.
She stayed in Washington until 2013, when health issues brought her back to Gladwyne, about a mile from where she had grown up at Idlewild Farm. She became part of the Wavery Heights community and was able to continue her summer pilgrimages to Cape Cod up until fairly recently. Being close to family and friends meant a lot to her, especially as children and grandchildren gravitated to the East Coast.
When she received the Baldwin Alumnae award in 2002 she told the audience:
"I believe that nothing is ever lost. Everything you do, everyone you meet becomes a part of you, and you build on all these experiences to help handle your next situation. I have been fortunate in the right place at the right time, with a background that enabled me to take advantage of the situation, to seize the moment. My husband Jim often said - Life is unpredictable, so eat dessert first."
She then went on to quote a writer she enjoyed, Elaine Coffman:
"Each Day is a gift / Friends are presents / Families are everything / Laugh often and love a lot."
The family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful staff and caregivers at Waverly Heights for their loving care and support as Pat courageously and steadfastly confronted the ever-increasing medical challenges of older age and the social challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
A celebration of Pat's life will take place after the world has a chance to return to something close to post-pandemic normalcy. In the meantime, we will all be raising a glass of Pinot Grigio in her honor as we reflect on the profound impact she has had on all our lives. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations in Pat's name can be made to the National Rowing Foundation (https://natrowing.org), The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (https://www.WHOl.edu), or the Marine Biological Laboratories. (https://www.MBL.edu).