Elizabeth Hastings Ferguson
Remember
Elizabeth Hastings Ferguson
  • September 22, 1919 - September 13, 2012
  • Charleston, South Carolina
  • Gifts may be made to:
  • Bishop Gadsden Residence Assistance Fund
    One Bishop Gadsden Way
    Charleston, SC 29412
  • Gifts may be made to:
  • Wellesley College
    106 Central Street
    Wellesley, MA 02482
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Tres bien fait, mon Professeur! I will always remember her bright eyes and her polite way of cringing when I was blundering through a pronunciation. Better yet, I remember her little nod when I finally got it right. She had amazing patience with us. Without the time she had spent with me, I am sure that I never would have gotten the opportunity to work internationally. She laid down the foundation so that it became easier to learn other languages too. I have never met another instructor like her. She is unreplaceable. ULS class of '80.
Posted by: Adele McHenry-Koenen - Chardon, OH - student   Oct 17, 2012

Miss Ferguson was one of the most influential teachers during my time at GPUS. She was stern and funny at the same time and had a way of making us love" latin. Learning the roots of so many of the words in the English language was invaluable as I went on to college and on into life. I have often thought of her.
Posted by: Ginny Barnes - Rowayton, CT - former student   Oct 08, 2012

Miss Ferguson gave me so much, not merely the ability to read Latin, but also an appreciation for a body of literature that is increasingly only available to specialists. Reading Catullus, Ovid, and Lucretius as originally written gave me a love of the classics that influenced my later decisions to pursue a degree in English and Renaissance Studies and later a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. When I read Stephen Greenblatt's recent work, The Swerve, on the surprising survival of Lucretius's

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Posted by: Elizabeth Wahl - Palo Alto, CA - student   Oct 04, 2012

Miss Ferguson was a lady, a scholar, and a dedicated teacher. She will be remembered by every student who had the honor of sitting in her classroom.
Posted by: Lynne Randall (Battershell) GPUS Class of 1959 - Elkhorn, NE - former student   Oct 01, 2012

I was deeply sadden to hear of the news of my beloved Mentor and friend, Betsy. She was such a beautiful lady, one of a kind. I certainly feel I was blessed to have her in my professional and personal life while I taught at ULS. I learned so much from her and her great enthusiasm in wanting to master the Spanish language, endeared here even more so. She sat in some of my classes and it was a joy

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Posted by: Mariela M. Brown - Stuart, FL - Friend   Sep 30, 2012
Elizabeth (center) with Austen friends, Elaine Henderson and Ann Warren

Elizabeth was a delightful woman, blessed "with every virtue under heaven." She was also a self-described "eccentric" about Jane Austen. Members of our Michigan society benefited from her leadership and knowledge for many years, and we miss her.
Posted by: Barbara Laughlin Adler - Ann Arbor, MI - JASNA member   Sep 27, 2012

No doubt about it, Miss Ferguson was my favorite teacher. She hid a mischievous sparkle and energy behind that ladylike exterior--I've often thought I would have enjoyed her as a personal friend. She taught me Latin throughout my GPUS years, even when only two of us were in the class. Because of her enthusiasm, Latin was my declared major when I, too, headed off to Wellesley. I am pleased to read that Miss Ferguson had many years to enjoy the

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Posted by: Susan (Swan) Drown (GPUS 1969) - PRESCOTT, AZ - student   Sep 26, 2012

We got through Cicero and Vergil together. Though the last in a group of AP Latin folks, I got a 3 exempting me from my college language requirement.

A great lady and a great teacher.

Dr. Charles K. Coe (Sandy)
Professor Emeritus
North Carolina State University
Posted by: Sandy Coe - RALEIGH, NC - Student   Sep 26, 2012

I was sorry to hear of Betsy Ferguson's passing. I was one of her may Latin students during the 1961-62 school year. I remember those classes quite vividly and the quiet decorum that she brought to her teaching. I also remember the gentle and friendly rivalry that she had with Francis "Coach" McCann who had been my Latin teacher for two years prior. I learned a great deal from both of them and have valued my grounding in Latin all my life.
Al Blixt
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Posted by: Al Blixt - student   Sep 26, 2012

Domina Ferguson inspired my middle school life in ways I can hardly articulate. So lively and dramatic was her love of Latin that we "little sevens" (7th graders) performed Pyramus and Thisbe on stage at Marygrove College with lines like "Hic est leo! Haec est arbor! Hoc est. . . . Sed quo est sepulcrum Nini?" Seeing Italy and Greece on a Swans cruise in 1963 under her prim and passionate tutelage turned every Etruscan ruin into treasure. She was

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Posted by: elizabeth goodenough (Satisbona) - Ann Arbor, MI - student   Sep 26, 2012