OBITUARY FOR JEANETTE FERGUSON NOE

Jeanette Ferguson Noe
Former Congressional Staff Member Services for Jeanette Ferguson Noe will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Stephens Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Mrs. Noe, 68, died Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008, at Guardian Angel Hospice. She served as the Meridian district representative for Congressman G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery from 1967 to 1995. Prior to that, Mrs. Noe was a teacher at Meridian and Oxford high schools and was a reporter for the Associated Press, Memphis Commercial Appeal, Jackson Daily News and The Meridian Star. Mrs. Noe was a graduate of the Mississippi University for Women, where she was a member of the Hall of Fame, was editor of The Spectator and a member of the Mortar Board. She later received her master’s degree in public policy and administration from Mississippi State University, where she was selected as the outstanding in-service graduate student. Mrs. Noe was a past president of the Meridian Community College board of trustees, served on the executive board of Mississippians for Educational Broadcasting, was a member of the advisory group of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and was a past administrator of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Chamber Music Series. She was the recipient of numerous honors, including the 1982 Mississippi Press Women’s “Woman of Achievement” award, the 1968 “Silver Inky” award from the Mississippi University of Women’s department of journalism and various writing honors from the Mississippi Press Women. Survivors include her husband, Harold; her son, David, of Tampa, Fla.; sisters Nancy F. Malcolm of Greensboro, Ga., Emily F. Newell of Hattiesburg and Mae F. Johnson of Ft. Worth, Texas; and her excellent companions Hattie Terrell, Christine Russell, Evelyn Edwards, Pearl Gordon and the caregivers of Guardian Angel. She was preceded in death by her father, Eddy Thompson Ferguson, and her mother, Jeanette East Ferguson. The family requests memorials be made to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1116 23rd Ave., Meridian 39301, or a favorite charity.