Doris Dunlap Ferguson

Doris Dunlap Ferguson died on October 17, 2019, her 92nd birthday. She was the daughter of Hugh Stanley Dunlap and Esther Mae Todd Dunlap of Harrison County, Ohio. She grew up on their farm and graduated from Franklin High School in New Athens, Ohio in 1945. She pursued nursing education, graduated from Ohio Valley General Hospital School of Nursing and became an R.N. in 1948. Desiring to see the nation’s capital, she and two nursing school friends applied to and gained positions at Arlington County Hospital in Arlington, Va. Doris met and married Roy W. Ferguson in August, 1950 and both settled into their careers and family life. In 1977 they retired to a small farm in Reva, Va. and lived there for over thirty years, while Doris continued in nursing at both Fauquier and Culpeper County hospitals. They gardened, traveled, and were active members of Bethel Baptist Church in Reva. Roy Ferguson died in 2007, and in 2010, due to medical issues, Doris moved into the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg where she lived for nine years. At VMRC she participated in gardening, several committees, including the Worship Committee, and was active in Bible Study, arts and crafts, and classes on world history and cultures. She was known best for her kindness and positive spirit. She was an active Christian, a wonderful wife and mother, and a highly skilled surgical nurse, serving as Chief Surgical Nurse at Arlington Hospital. She loved her work, and considered her nursing career a foundational part of her identity. She leaves behind her son Roy W. Ferguson, Jr. and his wife Susan Quaintance Ferguson of Harrisonburg, her grandsons Andrew N. Ferguson of Alexandria, Va., Stuart M. Ferguson, his wife Amy, and their son Garrett of Houston, Texas, and Mark B. Ferguson of New York City. Also left behind is her daughter Patricia Ferguson Watkinson of Richmond, as well as three step-grandchildren, Michael P. Watkinson, of Providence, R.I., Tracey J. Watkinson of Fairfax, and James D. Watkinson, Jr., his wife Alicia, their daughter Isla of Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, and his son Leiland of Richmond. She leaves a number of nieces, nephews and cousins who will greatly miss her. A private burial will be held in Culpeper, VA and a memorial service will be held at Strite Auditorium at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community at 2:00 pm on Saturday, October 26, 2019 with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Good Samaritan Fund and the Staff Development and Training Endowment of VMRC online at https://www.vmrc.org/good-samaritan-fund or https://www.vmrc.org/program-funds, or mailed to VMRC Foundation, 1491 Virginia Avenue, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. Fond memories and condolences may be shared with the Ferguson family through clore-english.com. The Ferguson family has entrusted Clore-English Funeral Home, 11190 James Monroe Highway, Culpeper, VA 22701 with these arrangements.