Rosanna Smith Ferguson Brooks

My Mom, Rosanna Ferguson Brooks   Memories of Rosanna Ferguson Brooks by her son, Jeff Ferguson…….   My mother resided in Benton, IL, where she attended East Benton Baptist Church. She also attended the public schools and graduated from Benton Consolidated High School. She married Earl Ferguson. They were avid fishermen and card players. In 1941, they were blessed with their only child--me. Mom was the parent, while dad was serving our country during WW II. Upon his return, both were instrumental in the developing stages of a young boy in Southern Illinois. Sports became a major part of their lives as I was involved year-round through my school years in Benton. They did find time for their fishing and card playing with family and friends. They liked to gather at our house because mom was such an outstanding cook and she could make a meal out of anything. Dad passed during my Junior year in college leaving a huge void in my mother’s life. She discovered a new passion in bowling and became very good. Shortly after I married Brenda Fisher, my mother became involved with the family by even moving to Urbana, Illinois to be closer to her first granddaughter, Terri. Five years later, she welcomed her second granddaughter, Tamala. While in Urbana, she met Leonard Brooks and they married. They retired in Leesburg, Florida. Mom continued to play many different card games, but also discovered square dancing. She and Leonard became very involved in the many activities of their social clubhouse. Sadly, she also lost Leonard to illness. She later lived in Winter Haven, Florida, which was closer to me. She was able to continue her water aerobics that was introduced to her in Leesburg. Her last few years were in an assisted living facility in Haines City, Florida. She lived to be almost 102. My mother was the Best. She loved me in a way that left no doubt in anyone’s mind. She was a proud mother that was able to use tough love when needed. During those hot, humid summers in Illinois, mom always had the cooler full of sodas ready. In later years after I became a coach, she housed and prepared food for my basketball teams when they were attending the state tournament in Urbana. She thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her granddaughters and later great granddaughters.   To me, She was always the PERFECT ideal of what a MOTHER should be.   Love you mom and tell dad, Leonard and Brenda hello from me in heaven.       Rosanna Maude Smith Ferguson Brooks January 6, 1918 – October 15, 2019   As told by Terri Ferguson Beaubien, Granddaughter   Yes, you read those dates right! Grandma lived 101 years, 9 months and 9 days! WOW   Where do I begin? Rosanna was the daughter to Grover and Pearl Smith, sister to Ruth Smith Rice, wife to the late Earl Ferguson and later to the late Leonard Brooks, mother to Jeffrey Ferguson, mother-in-law to the late Brenda Ferguson, grandma to Terri Ferguson Beaubien and Tamala Ferguson, great grandma to Micha Rotz, Brittany Moore and Casandra Moore.   So so so many memories of this wonderfully strong woman.   She and Earl only had 1 son…the love of both of their lives. The first 4-5 years of his life, she was basically a single mom while Grandpa Earl was in the Army Infantry. Thankfully Dad and Grandma were blessed with his return and together they raised dad teaching him right from wrong, respect, dignity and to love sports of course! Dad could never fix anything because grandma and grandpa kept him on the basket court, football or baseball field. Grandma loved watching dad play ball and knew he needed a scholarship to continue to a good school for an education. Her son got that athletic scholarship to University of Illinois, but unfortunately Grandpa (Ferg as grandma called him) passed away dad’s Junior year of college due to a brain aneurism. What else would grandma do but move to Champaign to be near dad! She of course absolutely loved my mother who was also at University of Illinois. My mom and dad had been together since they were 16 and then went to U of I together. In fact, when grandpa had his stroke, mom’s parents got Grandma Rosie to St. Louis where Grandpa ultimately passed away. But Grandma Rosie loved mom like a daughter there’s no doubt.   She poured her heart and soul into dad (and I assume mom); staying very strong after her husband passed. She worked at Russell Oil Company as a bookkeeper. After her mother passed, her father moved in with her and she cared for him. I remember visiting her in her tiny duplex and it smelling like Great Grandpa Smith’s pipe. She always had such great snacks when we visited!   She was an awesome bowler! When we visited her we went to Old Orchard Lanes to go bowling! She even had a trophy touting her 300 game! We loved bowling with her and looked forward to it every visit of course!   I remember dad taking his basketball players to Champaign to see the state basketball tourney many years in a row! Grandma Rosie would cook a bunch of food for them and they would all stay at her duplex! She would make their food, then leave them and stay elsewhere. When they were at the games, she’d come back and cook more! It was something the guys looked forward to every year…..they all called her Grandma Rosie, too! She loved having them around! She was definitely a “boys” type of mom! I still have some of dad’s players mention to me of what fond memories they have of my grandma!   When I was a bit older, probably 9 or so, I remember her going to all of my dad’s fast pitched softball games with us. He played for Martin Oilers and Jake’s Tires out of Murphysboro. We traveled all over the country and she was with us most every trip! She loved watching dad play softball! If I had a regret, it was that she hurt her back around the time Micha was playing high school and travel softball. She would have loved to watch her games but by then, she’d moved to Florida and seldom traveled back.   Grandma waited until she was 65 to get re-married. She was not going to lose that pension! She was extremely frugal and knew she needed that pension! A wonderful farmer from Champaign/Urbana wanted to marry her (and insisted that she wouldn’t need her pension if she married him; but she would have no part of that!) So, once she turned 65, they married at our house in Herrin with family gathered around. Leonard was quite a successful farmer and wanted to take care of Grandma. I remember he had no children and even wanted to change his will to include her family (us.) She would have none of that. She was very strong willed and she didn’t think that was right! She said his late wife would roll over in her grave and grandma wasn’t going to have that! She was such an honest woman and took advantage of no one….not even a husband that adored her. Leonard did take good care of her, allowing her to “put away” that pension for her future.   They moved to Leesburg, Florida shortly after marrying. They were such a sweet couple….taking up square dancing and it became a big part of their life! Grandma also took up swim aerobics and was quite dedicated showing up for class every day! As far as their relationship, there was no doubt grandma did “wear the pants” in the family! I can still hear him making his little jokes and her telling him what to do! Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s set in and he ultimately passed. She took such good care of him and it was after years of caring for him that she finally had to put him in a home. He passed days later. They were good together and I was always glad she had him.   Cards were a BIG deal to grandma. She taught me Rummy first, then Pinochle, then Euchre. She was a SERIOUS card player. If you were her partner, she expected you to pay attention and know what cards were played. She expected to win!   She still loved her sports. She loved the Fighting Illini, the Chicago Bulls and later the Orlando Magic. She watched (or listened) to every game! She knew everything about the players and the team!   She did crossword puzzles until she was about 98 or 99 years old. She was SHARP when it came to Crosswords! She really loved the Biblical Crosswords. She studied the bible and was a devout Christian. She talked the talk and walked the walk, no doubt. There was absolutely zero hypo criticism to her! She did not judge people. She was truly a woman of character.   When she moved to assisted living in Lakeland, she had a nice apartment….and of course a big pool! The food was good but she’s save her roll every day and put a little piece of meat on it, wrap it up and take it to her apartment! I’ll never forget being in her apartment (she was about 91 at the time) and opening up her refrigerator. I’d say about 30 sandwiches(rolled up in napkins) fell out when I opened the door! She said she never knew when she might be hungry! Speaking of hungry…..that woman had an appetite until the week that she passed. She also LOVED cake and chocolate ice cream! She would literally slap you if you tried to take away desert! She was so much fun at birthdays….especially her own!   She continued to do her aerobics at her new home and in fact, the instructor said she was the most dedicated resident showing up daily! She learned how to Wii Bowl in her apartment in Lakeland! She was in her 90s and beating us all at Wii Bowling! Cards and Wii Bowling were things we could all still do together until her late 90s. She was incredible.   The staff members of the facilities she lived all said the same thing of her….”Your grandma is so sweet! There’s not a mean bone in her body!” That’s pretty incredible at 101 and a half! I would come in from St. Louis and she’d look up surprised and say, “Well what are you doing here?” I was always relieved that she always seemed to know me.   When I would visit Grandma in her early 90s I’d cry every time I left her because I thought it could be the last time I saw her. When mom got sick, I quit crying about grandma, realizing that she wasn’t going anywhere for a while and I cried leaving mom. When mom’s colon cancer metastasized to her liver, grandma wanted to give mom her liver (and what a great liver that would have been for mom!) Unfortunately, the type of cancer would have attacked the new liver too so she was not a candidate for a transplant. Grandma could not believe that mom would pass before her and she said many times that she wished she could trade places with mom (once again showing how much she loved her daughter-in-law.)   We all celebrated her 100th and her 101st b’day and she was so cute and funny both times giving us great pictures, memories, videos and great quotes to cherish! She took little to no medicine and until she had her massive stroke Sunday, she really was in good health. Unfortunately she wasn’t very mobile and really preferred just eating and sleeping. Her quality of life was not good and we knew she was ready to meet our Lord and Savior. I hate that she had even one night of pain, but they seemed to get it under control so her final day and a half she rested peacefully.   Grandma used to say, “I’m glad you want me because the good Lord sure doesn’t!” Well, in closing, I have to say, that I have no doubt that the “good Lord” granted her 78 wonderful years with her son and knew that she was a fine example for many. Her wit stayed with her until her stroke. She always made us laugh! I absolutely know that my grandma is finally able to ask the “good Lord” why he waited so long to let her through the pearly gates; but we can all rest in peace knowing that she is in heaven where she so deserves to be!     Grandma Rosie   Memories of Grandma Rosie by Tamala Ferguson   Where do I begin when asked what my grandmother Rosanna Maude Smith Ferguson Brooks meant to me? She was the one person that I thought I was most like. She always wanted to play cards or work puzzles, just like me. One of my earliest memories was when she asked me what game I wanted to play. I could not remember the name of the card game, so I got frustrated and got up on the table and showed her. She did not care, but figured out the game and started to play it with me. We later named it Knock Rummy because none of us knew its real name. Later she taught us Double Pinochle and Euchre. I remember that I was always so excited when she and papa Leonard were coming through on their way to or from Florida, where they were snowbirds. Eventually when I graduated college, I moved down to Florida and got the chance to be closer to grandma. When I had my own children, her great granddaughters, Brittany Moore and Cassie Moore, she offered to babysit. However, there was a stipulation that I had to have chocolate ice cream. I remember having to run up to the store to buy some right before she got there. She then played with the girls for hours. I remember how happy she was playing cards, bowling, square dancing and participating in the clubhouse events there in Leesburg, FL. When she could no longer go bowling, the girls and I bought her the WII Bowling. She enjoyed bowling again. She continued to have her wit the entire 101 years of life. Some of her sayings or one-liners made all of us smile and many times laugh. I know that grandma is once again happy, eating chocolate ice cream, playing cards, bowling and dancing. I love you Grandma Rosie.     Thoughts and memories from a friend:   A year and a half ago, I met this lovely little lady, who had a sparkle in her eyes, and an enduring love for her son and family. Rosanna, was a remarkable 101 year old. She didn't let the things she couldn't do anymore bother her. Her daily routine at the assisted living facility, was basically, meals and naps. On the good days, she was fun and feisty! She was especially good at disappearing, by taking off in her wheelchair and exploring the halls and sometimes other rooms. She had everyone up and moving, looking for her.  The faculty and staff adore her, she always had a smile for me, and looked forward to the frequent family visits bearing chocolate shakes! One special memory was on her 101st birthday. Jeff was wheeling her down the hall and she loudly burst forth with "It's My Birthday!"... and "That's my Boy!" Whenever she saw Jeff, she would light up! She was such an easy going, gentle spirit. She never complained about her declining health issues. She had found a level of contentment, while she waited for God to call her. Now she is at peace and in our hearts forever. With fond affection,  Nancy Rodgers