Obituary of Virginia Louise Dawson Ferguson

                                                  Virginia Louise Dawson Ferguson

                                     June 5, 1942 – September 13, 2017

 

On June 5, 1942, in Stonewall Jackson’s former residence in Lexington, Virginia, while war raged across the world, God took time to create a beautiful baby girl for her parents, Lewis E. Dawson, Jr. and Virginia Shewey Dawson.

Jenny Lou is now reunited in Heaven with her parents that she loved with all her heart.

Jenny Lou lived in Buena Vista, Bluff City, and Salem as her father moved for his employer, Leas McVitty Tanneries. She attended Andrew Lewis High School and was chosen as the “Wittiest” girl in her senior class. They should have also added “Prettiest” but custom didn’t allow for double winners.

This sense of humor became necessary for her to tolerate her husband, Kenneth Warren Ferguson for 55 years. It was love at first sight for Warren when he met his beautiful blind date arranged by her friend Mary Louise Trussell. This love never diminished over all the years they were together.

The early years of their marriage flew by as they frequented The Tradewinds and The Coffee Pot where they loved to listen to Joy and the Vikings belt out “Old Blue” and Freddie Frelantz’s heartfelt version of “Mr. Bo Jangles.”

They did not miss a home VPI football game for 20+ years. The highlight of their social calendar were the years when Tech played at UVa that they always attended, accompanied by their friend George Dickel.

As their beautiful children, Scottie and Jeb came into their lives they enjoyed tent camping on weekends on Potts Creek and summer vacations with their dear friends Byron and Nancy Yost and their twin girls at Ocean Isle Beach, NC.

As they entered into the golden years, they were able to travel extensively. They crossed Canada in their private railroad compartment enjoying the beautiful Rockies and Victoria, BC. They toured Nova Scotia and Cape Breton with the Yosts (again). They spent a week in a 200-year-old stone cottage with a thatched roof in Normandy. They enjoyed a week in Versailles. Scotland and Ireland were visited.

As much as they enjoyed international travel, they especially enjoyed visiting various areas of their home country. They left their hearts in San Francisco, were awed by the Grand Canyon, traveled the Mississippi by paddle wheeled steam boat, explored Cajun country, ate lobster in Maine, and fell in love with Texas and it’s Long Horn Cattle, barbeque and friendly folks (Boy Howdy).

Jenny Lou graduated from Cornet School of Business and became an Executive Secretary to Don Rowe, Sr. and Don Rowe, Jr. CEOs of Rowe Furniture Manufacturers. She moved to the Norfolk and Western Railway Company where she was personal secretary to David A. Cox, Director of Real Estate, and Industrial Development. 

After the N & W merger with Southern Railroad, Jenny Lou returned to school at National Business College where she earned an Associate Degree in Court Reporting and was a self-employed Court Reporter.

She was top-notch stenographer with a mastery of short hand. She could make a typewriter smoke and was a whiz with the Court Reporter shorthand machine. She was a perfectionist and master of grammar. She had the most beautiful handwriting ever. People looked forward to receiving her beautifully addressed Christmas cards.

Jenny Lou loved Budweiser and Hank Williams taken together. After deciding she had enjoyed enough beer for a lifetime, she discovered Delbert McClinton, Jimmy Fortune, Linda and Robin Williams and The Irish Tenors.

A voracious reader, a trait learned from her mother who was the Town of Salem Librarian, she took her time reading and rereading passages in a book savoring every word.

Left heartbroken by her passing are her husband, Warren, children, Scottie (Bill), and Jeb (Rori) and Sister Betsy who she loved so very much. She is also survived by her granddaughter, Katie and great granddaughters, Scarlett and Kennedy. Other survivors are her sister, Becky, and “favorite cousins” Mary Page Stinnett and John Kyle Shewey, along with a number of other relatives.

Left to share in the loss are her dear lifelong, faithful friends, Mary Louise Scarborough and Mary Ed Williams, her friends of 50+ years, Byron and Nancy Yost and just about anybody who was lucky enough to come in contact with her.

The family would also like to thank Dr. Souha Khawam for her many years of kind, exceptional care for Jenny Lou.

An animal lover, Jenny Lou used to ride her horse, Silver all over Salem in her teen years. Later she and Warren had goats, chickens, a raccoon and the World’s neatest Bassett Hounds, Tank and Tinker.

If you would care to, I am sure a donation to Angels of Assisi, 415 Campbell Avenue, SW, Roanoke, Virginia 24016 would be appreciated by her.

A private memorial in memory of one of God’s special people will be held at a later date