Sharon Marie Ferguson

Born on December 29, 1954 in Springfield, Massachusetts, the third of four children, to Tom and Peg Ferguson (both now deceased), the family soon moved to the Albany area of New York State, where Sharon grew up.

Sharon attended SUNY-Buffalo, where she’d gathered her own tribe of friends. It was there, on July 7, 1975, that she met and fell in love with her future husband and love of her life, Burt Rashbaum. In 1976 they made the journey to Boulder to continue their adventure. They married July 5, 1981.

In Boulder Sharon thrived, first at Hand to Mouth, a cool eatery on the Hill. When that closed, Sharon managed Boulder’s first gourmet food store, Essential Ingredients, the only place to buy fresh truffles direct from Europe. After that Sharon was hired as the first deli manager of a new natural food supermarket, Alfalfa’s, where Sharon created recipes, as well as a clientele she loved.

Sharon knew her passion lay elsewhere, so in 1987 she founded Mother Nurture Postpartum Services, becoming a postpartum doula with expertise in emotional support, lactation, infant massage, and an uncanny ability to understand the needs of the newly born. Many considered her a ‘baby whisperer,’ and she was able to help new parents with the hardest parts of parenting a newborn, deciphering needs only she could discern. In her 30+ years as a doula, she helped hundreds of new parents care for hundreds of infants.

Sharon and Burt moved from Boulder to Nederland in 1981, and then to Lafayette in 1984, returning to Nederland in 1990. Sharon always wanted children of her own, and was blessed with their son, Max, in 1993. Winding down Mother Nurture, almost four years ago she began working at the Visitors Center in Nederland. As she had her whole life, she began working there by asking herself, how can I make this better? She completely turned the Visitors Center around to where it now is a meeting place for tourists, a beautiful gift shop that she created, and where she would meet people from the world over. She loved working there and always came home revitalized.

Her life was one of giving to others, loving with an open heart, sharing her knowledge and her light, always wanting to make everything better. Her love has rippled far and wide, and her loss has been a shock to everyone who had the good fortune of having her in their lives. While it may be said that ‘she is now with the angels,’ in all probability, because of the beauty of her soul, she is probably one of those angels herself.

Sharon is survived by her husband of over 40 years, Burt, her son Max and his wife Bri, her three siblings, and numerous loving in-laws, nieces, nephews, and their families.

A memorial will be planned to celebrate Sharon’s life when we can all gather safely together. To have your name added to the list of people who will receive this information, email Burt at [email protected].

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cristmortuary.com for the Ferguson family.