1944 – 2022
(Mary) Catharine Ferguson passed away peacefully surrounded by her family and beloved bulldog Elie on January 5th, 2022. She is survived by her husband Earle Ferguson and her daughters, Heather Leclaire, Jennifer Ferguson, and Mary Ferguson, their partners (Chris, Marc and Fred) and her 7 grandchildren, Alexandra, Justin & Jaelle Leclaire, Alyssa & Danica Lepine, and Breland & Madeline Ferguson Thomas as well as many friends and extended family.
Cathy was born in London, Ontario, in 1944 and grew up in Windsor, Ontario. She moved to Winnipeg after marrying Earle. Cathy and Earle shared interests watching football and the Indy 500 races, and enjoyed travelling, especially their trips to New Orleans (where they had their honeymoon), New Mexico and Higgins Beach with Marina Grenier, Cathy’s sister-in-law. Cathy worked in libraries after graduating with a library sciences degree and was an avid reader. She spread her love of books to everyone she knew.
Cathy had many other loves that she generously shared with friends and family: gardening, hiking in nature, cooking, the Westminster Dog Show, attending the theatre, and watching the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. She cherished her many close friendships and regularly made friends wherever she went, including most recently at her care home, connecting with staff members. She was proud of her children and grandchildren and loved her many pets, especially Elie. She was an involved grandmother, attending all sorts of sports and arts performances throughout the years and was always ready to support family in whatever their interests and accomplishments were. Cathy will be remembered for her sweet smile and laughter- travelling through Winnipeg’s Exchange District as one of the Fringe Festival’s most devoted supporters, inviting friends and family to join her. She was such a generous and caring person and she will be greatly missed by many.
Cathy wished for donations to be made to a local theatre of your choice in lieu of flowers. Services will take place in the Spring.
11 thoughts on “Catharine Ferguson”
Cathy is the cool relative I grew up watching.
Some of my fondest memories of Cathy are her yearly trips to the Eastern Townships, her love for animals and her funny bumper stickers. Her curiosity for travel and knowledge has been passed on well beyond what she could imagine. And her laugh.
This is only a sample of her infectious joie-de-vivre that my family and I will be carrying in our hearts and in our way of living a fulfilling life.
We love you Cathy.
Marc-André, Stéphanie, Léo and Alexandre
Cathy was a genuine, caring, reliable friend.
I will miss our many theatre outings, our hiking experiences at Clear Lake, our sharing of books/authors, our anecdotal chats about our kids and grandkids, our chats regarding the Bombers and the Jets, our visits at her care home and so much more….
Cathy will live on in many hearts.
I know Cathy is at peace ❤️
Shirley Hampton
Cathy’s laugh will be with me forever. We had so much fun together from cross country skiing to biking and raising our kids together, building playground and community together. This including become the refuge for stray animals on the way .
Cathy you are a hero by the way you took on the challenges of life you had! Love ❤️ Sonja
Condolences to Earle and family on the passing of Cathy.
Elaine Baete sgm, Montreal
So very sorry for your loss. Cathy always had a wonderful smile on her face when we saw her. Her smile was even larger when she was around her girls and her grandchildren. She is now among the many Angels 😇 looking over all of you. Our prayers too you all 🙏. Thinking of you all at this time Dale, Jackie LeClaire and family💕💕
My sincere condolences to all the Family—you know how much she loved each and every one of you and was so proud of all your accomplishments.
Cathy, to me, was the epitome of what a best friend could be—kind, supportive, funny and so adventurous!! I loved the way she turned many of life’s disasters into eye-rolling hilarious stories. I hope wherever Cathy has gone that they have an event planner ready for this “event junkie” (Earl’s term).
I admired the way Cathy faced her medical issues with strength and courage.
I have lost such a dear, treasured friend. I’m sending love, support and peace to you all.
Sincerely, Josie Walkden
I was saddened to hear of Cathy’s passing. I was her 1 on 1 visitor from Westworth United Church. Unfortunately, we were matched at the beginning of COVID which meant I was only able to visit her a couple of times at Tuxedo Extendicare. I tried to keep in touch by mail and was looking forward to more in person visits. For a long period of time, on behalf of the Westworth Community Care Committee, she sent sympathy cards to church members who were grieving the loss of a loved one. I very much appreciated the card she sent to me upon my mother’s death. She wrote a sincere and personal message in the card.
My deepest sympathy goes out to Earle and family during this sad time.
My condolences to all the Family—-you know how much she loved each and every one of you and was so proud of all your accomplishments.
Cathy, to me, was the epitome of what a good friend could be—-kind, supportive, funny and so adventurous!! I loved the way she turned many of life’s disasters into hilarious eye rolling stories.
I hope wherever Cathy has gone that they have an event planner ready for this “event junkie” (Earl’s term) who has just arrived.
I admired the way Cathy faced her medical issues with such strength and courage.
I have lost such a wonderful and treasured friend.
I’m sending love, support and peace to you all.
Sincerely, Josie Walkden
It takes a special person to share a relatively small home with relatively large dogs. Cathy was just that kind of special person (fortunately, so was Earle). Cathy spoke with a soft voice, but always with a firm commitment to her principles. Above all, she was warm and caring to her friends and especially to her family. Our sincere condolences to Earle and the entire family. We know how much you will miss her.
My sympathies go to Cathy’s family at this difficult time. Cathy was a faithful member of Westworth United Church and sat in the same pew on Sundays for as long as I can remember. I always enjoyed my chats with her at church. She was such a kind-hearted and lovely person.
I am deeply saddened to learn just now (May/24) that my fellow librarian, Cathy Ferguson died over two years ago. I should have stayed better in touch–a lesson perhaps for all of us. Cathy (or CF as her many notes read) was my right hand person at Winnipeg Public Library in the cataloguing department. She was smart, helpful, fun with a great laugh, resourceful, and a terrific source of ideas for the huge project that we engaged on in the mid 1980s. The last time I saw her was on a train trip that stopped over in Winnipeg long enough for us to take a lovely walk along the river. One of the nicest and best people in my entire career and indeed my life. My deepest condolences to Earle.