Mary Katherine Ince Wilkerson Ferguson, 105, of Conway, Arkansas, died of natural causes on Monday, April 27, 2026, at her home at College Square.

Mary was born on January 24, 1921, in West Helena, Arkansas, to Elmer Comings Ince and Katie Lederman Ince. Preceding her in death were her parents; her siblings, Vera Lenora Ince Arthur, Walter Elmer Ince, Eunice Louise Ince Carman, and James Jacob Ince; her first husband, Joseph Wilkerson; her son, Franklin Comings Wilkerson; and her second husband, W. C. “Dub” Ferguson, Jr. She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews and their children.

The oldest of five children, Mary modeled for her three siblings what being a good student looked like, as evidenced by her report cards from first to twelfth grade crowded with A’s and only a smattering of B’s. After graduating high school in 1939, she set her sights on college, taking the train to Conway where she enrolled at what was then ASTC (now UCA). The Debate team, both the French and Spanish clubs, and the Scroll Yearbook all benefitted from her lively intelligence. She was also a proud member of the drum line in the ASTC marching band. After graduating in 1942, she taught English at Hughes High School for one year. She then happily traded rural Hughes for cosmopolitan Memphis, where she worked for American Airlines in Flight Operations during the wartime effort. After the war ended, Mary was ready for further adventuring and answered a somewhat vague want ad for employment in Louisville, Kentucky. The mystery company turned out to be Seagram’s and the job Executive Secretary, which she accepted. A lifelong learner, Mary went to night school to further her Spanish skills and there met fellow student Joseph Wilkerson. They married in 1950 and their son, Franklin, was born in 1954.

Following Joe’s death from Hodgkin’s disease in 1960, Mary realized as a suddenly single parent she would need to support her family. She returned to the Education field, earning a Master’s in Library Science and, later, a Specialist in Education degree. Mary was employed by the Louisville school system, initially as a librarian in the elementary school and later as a Library Media Consultant. Her professional life, colleagues, family and friends as well as her church family at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Louisville supported her through Frank’s accidental death in 1973.

Mary retired in 1981, and to no one’s surprise, her early retirement years were busy ones; she volunteered at both the Episcopal Church Home and the Louisville Science Center (now Kentucky Science Center). She also traveled extensively in a foursome of travel “sisters” and found two of her most memorable trips to be to Australia/New Zealand in 1987 and to Russia in 1989. Mary enjoyed photography as a hobby, and true to her librarian’s sensibility for documentation, her large collection of photograph albums and slide carousels were all meticulously notated. Perhaps proving that writing such things down improves memory, her recall of where she had gone and what she had done there was phenomenal.

Mary maintained her ties to UCA and starting in 1982, began attending Homecoming every year. At one such celebration in the mid-90s, she re-met a fellow ASTC student, Dub Ferguson. In July of 2000, Mary and Dub were married in Ferguson Chapel on campus. After making their home in Louisville for two years, they were drawn back to Conway when the university built College Square, its new retirement community. Though Dub’s illness and subsequent death in 2003 meant Mary would navigate the move differently, she found connection and support from her College Square community as well as her new church home, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, the UCA Alumni Association, and Conway Shakespeare Club.

Many who met Mary, especially in her nineties, were astonished to learn how old she was. Always stylishly dressed and “put together,” Mary exuded a zest for life. “What’s your secret?” people often asked her. Though she never developed a pat reply, what ran through all her answers was a hard-won understanding that to live well, one must choose to seek the positive—that even in the face of loss, making the best of life was always a decision she could make.

A memorial service celebrating Mary’s life will be held at 2 pm on Thursday, May 21, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Conway. A reception will follow in the parish hall. Suggested memorial gifts are to the Conway Symphony Orchestra or UCA’s Ferguson Chapel Bells Carillon Fund.