Individual Details

Death

Shelby Flowers Ferris died at her home on Sunday, August 3, after a long and wonderful life, surrounded by loving family. Born on July 7, 1918 at the home of her parents, Uriah Grey Flowers and Hester Craig Flowers, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, she attended public schools before going to All Saints Episcopal High School, where she was crowned May Queen as a freshman. She later received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University. Shelby married William Reynolds Ferris in 1941 and began living on his farm, "Broadacres," south of Vicksburg. As a young bride she made many adjustments, leaving behind a comfortable urban life in Vicksburg for an isolated rural life with dusty roads, no telephone, a generator to provide electricity, and a well for water. She embraced and loved this life and soon developed a lifelong passion for gardening, planting extensive flowerbeds around her hilltop home, which she lovingly tended for almost 75 years. She and Mr. Ferris raised five children, William, Shelby, Hester, Grey, and Martha on "Broadacres"; with their devotion and energy, they created a far-reaching life there. Over the years, visitors from around the world enriched her rural Mississippi environment and were in turn enriched by it. Relatives from Boston and Chicago brought friends who talked about their lives, so different from daily life on the farm. The wide web of visitors increased over the years. Shelby's children's friends spent weekends riding horses, swimming in the lake, driving the Jeep, and paddling down the Big Black River. Many learned to drive on the farm, across the wide pastures. These rich experiences nurtured the adventurous spirits of those who visited and left memories for generations of people who enjoyed Shelby's hospitality and generosity, as well as her humor, the freewheeling conversations, and delicious meals she served at her dining table. Throughout all the years, Shelby continued to welcome old friends and make new ones, always with great hospitality and grace. When the children were young they attended Jeff Davis School, where Shelby volunteered and promoted public health projects. She and her husband Bill became involved with the Warren County Community Development Program, whose mission was to revitalize the social and intellectual life of the Jeff Davis community through the participation of men and women competent in various trades and activities. They helped build the Jeff Davis community center, a needed resource for rural families without phones or adequate transportation. Shelby was also an active member of the Hester Flowers Garden Club, founded by her mother in 1931 and still thriving today. She served as president of the Vicksburg Council of Garden Clubs. Shelby organized the Vicksburg/Port Gibson Art Study Group, which has met monthly and provided a serious study of art, from prehistoric to contemporary, for over 45 years. Their topics have been tied to large exhibitions in Mississippi and nearby states and included programs given by leading art historians, photographers, publishers and artists. She was originally motivated to start the group because a dear friend had lost a child to an early death, and Shelby thought the group would be a source of comfort and companionship in her time of grief. She also enjoyed traveling and writing short stories, all the while tending her garden, making sure fresh picked flowers greeted visitors to her home. Throughout her life she remained in close contact with family and friends around the world, and she was renowned for her beautiful and thoughtful letters. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and served on the Warren County Mental Health Board and the Vicksburg-Warren Library Board. This latter interest was continued by her son Grey, who as a state senator developed the Magnolia Project, which supplies Mississippians with access to electronic databases through libraries across the state. After the death of Mr. Ferris when Shelby was sixty, she became the true and vital center of "Broadacres" for the next thirty-five years. She enjoyed nothing more than sharing old family stories over her toddy every afternoon at five, watching the evening news, and reading her daily paper, along with a wide array of periodicals from which she often clipped articles of interest to send to family and friends. Her acts of generosity are legendary. The jelly she made every year from the wild plums her son Grey gathered on the farm became a symbol of the hospitality she extended to visitors from as far away as New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Europe, as well as friends and neighbors in her community. A jar of her jelly--a gift to be treasured--often brightened the day of a delivery person, drop-in guest, or repairman who happened to cross her threshold. Shelby was preceded in death by her parents, her husband William Reynolds Ferris, sister Hester Faser, brother Grey Flowers, son Grey Flowers Ferris and his wife Jann Terral Ferris, and granddaughter Jessica Shelby Ferris. Survivors include her son, Dr/ William Reynolds Ferris, Jr. (Marcie); daughters Shelby Ferris Fitzpatrick (Peter); Hester Ferris Magnuson (James); and Martha Ferris Kostmayer (Kos); grandchildren Tesher Fitzpatrick, Vagi Fitzpatrick, Dr. Lylen Ferris, Rev. Jason Ferris, Martha Magnuson Headley, William Magnuson, and Virginia Ferris, and eight great grandchildren. Shelby is survived as well by many loving nieces and nephews in whose sweet company she delighted until the day she died. Her funeral will be at 11:00 on Saturday, August 9, at the First Presbyterian Church on Cherry and South Streets in Vicksburg. Her grandson, Rev. Jason Ferris, and Rev. Tim Brown will lead the service. There will be a visitation with the family in Ward Hall of the church from 9:00 until the hour of the service. Honorary pallbearers include Dr. Eugene Ferris, Peter Fitzpatrick, Vagi Fitzpatrick, Grey Flowers, Kos Kostmayer, James Magnuson, Landman Teller, Dr. Terrel Williams, and John Henry Wright. Active pallbearers are Billy Magnuson, Michael Swiericzuk, Mott Roland Headley, Minor Ferris, Mac Ferris, Justin Ferris, Minor Ferris Buchanan, and Dr. Craig Flowers. Instead of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Palmer Home for Children, the Southern Cultural Heritage Center, the Jessica Shelby Ferris Art Therapy Endowment at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, or the charity of choice.