Ruth Bateman Ferguson

Ruth Marie Bateman Ferguson, a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, will be dearly missed by those who shared her life. Ruth passed away at her home, with her family at her side, on Sunday evening, June 3, 2007. She was 90, a native of Lansing, Mich., and a resident of Baton Rouge. Ruth was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and an alumna of the University of Illinois and a longtime member of University Methodist Church, where she was active for years in the Trice Church Circle. She was co-founder of the Thursday Bridge Club and the Junior Book Guild in the 1940s and a charter member of LeLivre Book Club. She was also a true LSU sports fan. Even into her mid-80s she followed the Tiger baseball team to many out-of-town games, including Omaha, and attended all LSU home football games until her sudden blindness in 2002. She and her late husband also were staunch supporters of the University High sports program for many years, attending games well past their children's graduations. Ruth is survived by two daughters and a son-in-law, Judith K. "Judy" Scott and her husband, Wayne, Baton Rouge, and Terry F. Ferguson, Houston; two sons, George R. Ferguson IV and his partner, Lonnie Ryan, Cathedral City, Calif., and John B. Ferguson, Houston; two grandsons, Wade Scott, Baton Rouge, and Jay Ferguson, College Station, Texas; a granddaughter-in-law, Jody Scott; and a great-grandson, Cooper Scott. She was preceded in death by her husband of 42 years, George R. Ferguson III, retired CEBA placement director at LSU; and her parents, John Henry Bateman, Ph.D., a well-known and published professor of civil engineering at LSU and the University of Michigan, and Marie Theresa "Tress" Bateman. The family would like to take this opportunity to thank her faithful and loving caregivers, Willie Mae Williams, Kaye Williams and Odestia Daniel, all of whom enabled her to remain in her own home these past five years as she fought a courageous battle to maintain as much of her independent nature as her blindness would allow. Our sincere thanks also to her dear friend Peg Kilgore, her physician, Dr. Gerald Barber, and the entire staff at Hospice of Baton Rouge for their wonderful care and support. Visitation at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government St., on Tuesday, June 5, was from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Visitation resumes at the funeral home on Wednesday from 11 a.m. until the funeral service at 1 p.m. Burial in Greenoaks Memorial Park. Pallbearers are her godson, Larry Landry Moore; grandsons, Wade Scott and Jay Ferguson; David Daniel, John Daniel and Jamey Hopper. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Hospice of Baton Rouge, 9063 Siegen Lane, Suite A, Baton Rouge, LA 70810-1951 or the charity of your choice.