Virginia Ferguson, age 89, of Custer, SD, passed away on January 15, 2019, at the Custer Regional Hospital.

Virginia Harris, called Virgie from an early age, was born June 13, 1929, on a ranch in Southern Custer County that had been homesteaded by her great grandfather. From the age of one, Virgie was raised by her grandparents, David and Ethel Herbert.  The family ranch was sold to Wind Cave National Park in 1935, and the family moved to Custer where she attended school, graduating in 1947, with classmates that still got together some 70 years later.

In the winter of 1948, Virgie was waiting tables at the Custer Café when Morris Ferguson (Ferg) arrived in town on a work detail with the Forest Service. They met at a dance in Hill City, and the rest, as they say, was history.  They were married in 1951. Three children followed – Gary, Sharon, and Wanda.  Virgie worked at a number of seasonal jobs after the kids were in school but her favorite job came along in 1968, when she became Custer County Librarian, a position she held for 10 years.

Virgie was present for the birth of her first grandchild, Jenny in 1978, followed by Austin, Ed, Caitlin, and Dusty.  She was a wonderful grandmother, traveling the country with Ferg to visit the Kurtz kids as their family transferred with the VA, and camping and fishing with the Custer grandkids.  Jenny's dolls were the best dressed in town with clothes Grandma Virgie sewed for them.

She loved having flower gardens each summer, was an avid reader, and did the daily crossword and sudoku.  Her kids and grandkids looked forward to family get togethers so they could gather around the table with her for games that often escalated into fits of laughter.  She was a skilled and ruthless 500 rummy and cribbage player.

Great grandchildren joined the family: Landon, Hailey, Myles and Brooks, Elaine, and Matthias.

Ferg died in 2013, at the age of 94. In the fall of 2017, Virgie moved to Wedgewood Senior Living where she made new friends and received excellent care.

Grateful for having shared her life are her son, Gary (Anne Marie) Ferguson of Oakland, CA; daughters, Sharon (Dean) Kurtz of Brandon, SD; Wanda (Rick) Wheeler, of Custer, SD; five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Virgie will be interred next to her husband at the Black Hills National Cemetery.  At her request, no services will be held but family and friends are invited to gather for a visitation 6:30 p.m., Friday, January 18, 2019, at Chamberlain McColley's Funeral Home in Custer.

A memorial has been established with the Custer County Library.

Arrangements have been placed in the care of McColley's Funeral Home in Custer.