Recent Deaths

Sister Patricia Ann Ferguson
1934–2020

Sister Patricia Ann “Pat” Ferguson, OSM, 86, of the Servants of Mary, Ladysmith, Wis., died peacefully at Addolorata Villa, Wheeling, Ill., on Dec. 18. 2020.

Sister Pat was born in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 6, 1934, to Londus and Jessie (Larsen) Ferguson. She entered the Servants of Mary in 1955 and made her first profession of vows in 1957. She was known for a time as Sister Mary Eugene.

She held an LPN certificate from St. Mary’s School of Practical Nursing, LaSalle, Ill.; BS degree from Mount Senario College, Ladysmith; MST degree from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls; and certificate in theology from the CREDO Program, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash.

She taught for 24 years in elementary schools staffed by the Servants of Mary in St. Louis Park, Minn.; Carteret, N.J.; and Weirton, W.Va.; and served as principal in St. Louis Park and Carteret.

In 1982 she was appointed director of admissions at Addolorata Villa, and in 1990 she was promoted to assistant administrator, a position she held until she retired in 2003. She was a member of the Illinois Association of Homes for the Aged and the American Association of Homes for the Aged.

When she was a child, her family moved to the Green Bay area, where she fell in love with the Green Bay Packers. During her retirement years at Addolorata Villa, she traveled the halls in a mobility scooter adorned with a Packers license plate and other team paraphernalia.

Sister Pat is survived by her sister-in-law Elaine Ferguson of The Woodlands, Tex., nieces, nephews, and the Servite Sisters, with whom she shared life for 65 years. She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers Eugene (late Joanne) Ferguson and Robert Ferguson.

Her funeral mass was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Father Papi Reddy Yeruva presided at a private graveside service on Dec. 23, 2020, with burial in the convent cemetery in Ladysmith. Sister Geraldine Schulte, OSM, who died Dec. 21, 2020, was buried during the same service.