Mary Jane Bigwitch Ferguson, 74, passed away Dec. 20, 2024 at Cherokee Indian Hospital surrounded by family and friends after an extended battle with Multiple Myeloma.
She was born Sept. 23, 1950, to the late Loyd and Savannah Sneed Bigwitch. She was a graduate of Swain County High School, where she was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of the 1967-68 Girls Basketball Team. She earned a two-year degree from Bacone College in Oklahoma, then her Masters Degree in Education from Western Carolina University.
She enjoyed successful careers as a teacher, small business owner, and hotel manager and operator before retiring as Director of Travel and Tourism for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. She enthusiastically served as a board member for the Southwestern Community College, the Museum of the Cherokee People, the Cherokee Historical Society, the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, the NC Governors Western Manor, the Executive Committee of the NC Association of College Trustees, the Southeastern Tourism Society, was a founding member of the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, as well as many others. She enjoyed her retirement by travelling with her grandchildren, and puppysitting the family dogs during the day.
In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her brother, Jeff Arneach
Mary Jane is survived by her loving spouse of 54 years, Donald (Hoppy) Ferguson; two daughters Savannah Ferguson and Samantha Ferguson; two son-in-laws, Gregory Gilleland and Charles Bryson; two grandchildren, Justin Alexander Gilleland and Milli Tae Bryson, and two brothers, Lloyd Long and Clint Arneach.
Mary Jane was a beloved member of the community and will be greatly missed.
The family received visitors Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024 at the Olivet United Methodist Church.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, charitable donations be made to the Museum of the Cherokee People, or Olivet United Methodist Church in Mary Jane’s Memory.