Mary Ferguson held court on Wednesday, wearing a tiara and corsage and clutching a proclamation from the Town of Merrillville in her honor.
“I’m the Queen of Nova Scotia,” she said, laughing, as she sat at the head of a table filled with flowers and cards.
Ferguson, a Nova Scotia native and long-time region resident, was queen for the day as some 35 well-wishers celebrated her 100th birthday at a party in the Ahepa senior apartment building where she has lived for the last 26 years.
Ferguson’s birthday was actually on Feb. 17, but the party was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions. The cheerful centenarian has a sharp memory, no medical issues and noted she is only now starting to get a few wrinkles around her mouth. She said she has no secrets for her long life.
“I credit God for everything. He’s been very good to me,” she said.
Ferguson said she was 2 1/2 years old when her parents, Simon and Margaret McDonald, brought her to the U.S. from Canada, settling in Gary.
“Gary was only 17 when I got there. There was hardly a building there,” she recalled.
She attended St. Mark’s elementary school, Lou Wallace High School and Gary Business College.
Ferguson was just 18 when she married 20-year-old Walter Raymond Ferguson, with whom she had two sons, Walter, Jr. and Ronald. She has six grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
“We were just kids, two kids who got married,” she said. Walter Ferguson died on Nov. 8, 1965 of a brain tumor.
“He was only 46,” Ferguson said.
During World War II, Ferguson worked in the metallurgical lab at National Tube Mill to support the war effort while her husband was in the Navy.
“I quit when my husband came back from the Navy. I enjoyed working there. I was helping the boys,” Ferguson said.
It was one of several jobs Ferguson would hold through the years. She said she was a bartender for 20 years, worked as a restaurant hostess and had a job at Life Uniform in Southlake Mall.
“I had to work two jobs. I couldn’t get a full-time job back then because they didn’t want to pay benefits,” Ferguson said.
Merrillville Councilwoman Margaret Uzelac, D-4th, said Ferguson was also was an election judge in the 4th Ward for 20 years, and a clerk.
“Mary voted in every election,” Uzelac said.
Uzelac said Ferguson was one of the first homeowners in the Southbrook subdivision in Merrillville and said she took care of her mother, who had Alzheimer’s.
“We’ve known each other for years,” said Uzelac, who gave Ferguson a proclamation from the town honoring Ferguson on her 100th birthday. “She’s a very energetic, kind woman,” Uzelac said.
Julie Hylek, regional manager for AHEPA, said they wanted to make sure Ferguson had a special birthday. Current and past managers and board members attended the party provided by AHEPA. Two former co-workers at Life Uniform attended the party.
“She’s a delight. I’ve known her since 1991 when we worked at Life Uniform. She’s a storyteller. She’s my Betty White,” Gloria Ozug said.
“For the age that she is, 100, her memory is terrific. She has helped me through some rough points in my life. I wish her many, many more years and love her,” said Mary Sierkowski.
Ferguson said she would like to celebrate a few more birthdays.
“The only thing I have now is trying to stay alive longer, whatever God gives me,” she said.
Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
