Obituary for Aimée Louise Ferguson (Hawes)
Aimée Hawes Ferguson, a longtime resident of Brielle, was reunited with her beloved husband, Franklin, on February 7th. Aimée was a vigorous and vibrant 97.
Summers swimming in the ocean and luxuriating on the beach in Sea Girt, excursions to many far flung destinations around the world, and quiet times reading and enjoying the Oriental peonies in the gardens of their own back yard united Aimée and Franklin in an especially concordant life together.
Born in New York City in 1923, Aimée grew up in the Sea Girt of another era—of grand resort hotels, celebrity visitors and eventually life during wartime. A graduate of H.W. Mountz grammar school and member of the Manasquan High School Class of 1942, she did her part selling war bonds and hosting teas for soldiers stationed at Fort Monmouth. During the war she attended the College of William & Mary where she studied commercial art, leading to work at the Asbury Park Press and then as a fashion illustrator for the Steinbach’s department store in Asbury Park. She was also a member of Models, Inc. for whom she modeled fashions for a number of stores along the coast.
As a young housewife in Brielle during her first marriage, Aimée raised two children and worked with her husband designing, subcontracting and constructing homes in Manasquan and Brielle. A voracious reader, she also worked part-time at the Monmouth County Library in Freehold. She was an early member of the Sea Girt Holly Club and an active participant in the Brielle Little Theater which provided scholarships for aspiring artists and designers. She and her family were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Manasquan.
In 1968, with her second marriage to Franklin Ferguson—an insurance executive whom she had known since childhood days on the Sea Girt beach--Aimée relocated to Pittsburgh, Pa. where she enjoyed the city’s art museums, its symphony orchestra and member events at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. But the Shore never lost its allure for them both and in 1983 they returned to Brielle to spend their retirement years. Franklin predeceased Aimée in 2013.
A proud member of the Greatest Generation, Aimée loved her country and remained politically active to the end—her fervent wish above all, that the humanist values as specifically enumerated in our Constitution remain honored and inviolate no matter the shifting political tastes of the moment.
Aimée is survived by her daughter Diane Eden Raver of Sea Girt and William Graham Brown, Jr. and his wife, Jennie Kathryn Brown of Norfolk, Ct. and three grandchildren, Grace Chatzky and her husband, Andrew, of Washington D.C., Aimée Raver, and William Raver, both of Los Angeles, Ca. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Brielle EMS, Inc. or the Brielle Public Library. Committal will be private. O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall in charge of arrangements.
Summers swimming in the ocean and luxuriating on the beach in Sea Girt, excursions to many far flung destinations around the world, and quiet times reading and enjoying the Oriental peonies in the gardens of their own back yard united Aimée and Franklin in an especially concordant life together.
Born in New York City in 1923, Aimée grew up in the Sea Girt of another era—of grand resort hotels, celebrity visitors and eventually life during wartime. A graduate of H.W. Mountz grammar school and member of the Manasquan High School Class of 1942, she did her part selling war bonds and hosting teas for soldiers stationed at Fort Monmouth. During the war she attended the College of William & Mary where she studied commercial art, leading to work at the Asbury Park Press and then as a fashion illustrator for the Steinbach’s department store in Asbury Park. She was also a member of Models, Inc. for whom she modeled fashions for a number of stores along the coast.
As a young housewife in Brielle during her first marriage, Aimée raised two children and worked with her husband designing, subcontracting and constructing homes in Manasquan and Brielle. A voracious reader, she also worked part-time at the Monmouth County Library in Freehold. She was an early member of the Sea Girt Holly Club and an active participant in the Brielle Little Theater which provided scholarships for aspiring artists and designers. She and her family were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Manasquan.
In 1968, with her second marriage to Franklin Ferguson—an insurance executive whom she had known since childhood days on the Sea Girt beach--Aimée relocated to Pittsburgh, Pa. where she enjoyed the city’s art museums, its symphony orchestra and member events at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. But the Shore never lost its allure for them both and in 1983 they returned to Brielle to spend their retirement years. Franklin predeceased Aimée in 2013.
A proud member of the Greatest Generation, Aimée loved her country and remained politically active to the end—her fervent wish above all, that the humanist values as specifically enumerated in our Constitution remain honored and inviolate no matter the shifting political tastes of the moment.
Aimée is survived by her daughter Diane Eden Raver of Sea Girt and William Graham Brown, Jr. and his wife, Jennie Kathryn Brown of Norfolk, Ct. and three grandchildren, Grace Chatzky and her husband, Andrew, of Washington D.C., Aimée Raver, and William Raver, both of Los Angeles, Ca. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Brielle EMS, Inc. or the Brielle Public Library. Committal will be private. O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall in charge of arrangements.