Marguerite (Ferguson) Chandler

Marguerite Ferguson Chandler was received by her Gracious Lord on April 10, 2018. She was 97. She lived a grand life.

Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m., Thursday, April 12 at Brenham Memorial Chapel.
Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, April 13 in Brenham’s First Baptist Church with Pastor Troy Sikes officiating. Interment will follow in Prairie Lea Cemetery.

Marguerite was born on August 10, 1920 in a wooden, one-story hospital in the small town of Clarendon in the Texas Panhandle. That was as far as her parents got toward their home in Goose Creek (later Baytown), on a return train trip from Colorado, before she arrived in this world. Marguerite was always proud to claim bragging rights for having been born in Texas. She grew up in Goose Creek and Tyler where her father worked in the burgeoning oil business. She later lived in Baytown, Gonzales, and Houston where she raised her family.

Marguerite was artistically inclined, having studied oil painting at age 9. During her life, she completed numerous paintings, sketches, and quilts, still enjoyed by many friends and family members. She also designed the logo for the Greater Houston Coin Club where she and her husband Allen were members.

But Marguerite’s greatest artistic passion was music. She studied piano from second through tenth grades and clarinet from sixth grade through high school. Her favorite role in life was being majorette for the marching band of Tyler High School. She also played for four years with the Tyler Symphony Orchestra. She was active in the Federated Music Clubs, serving as a delegate to the state convention in San Antonio. She often played piano at home, especially with friends and family. In later years, she played piano duets with her dear friend Sara Byman for many Brenham community groups. Marguerite loved any music that would have her tapping her feet.

In Tyler, Marguerite participated in Rose Festivals for five years, and was a member of Kappa Phi Delta sorority. During her long active life, she was also a member of Beta Sigma Phi women’s business sorority, the Texas Medical Society Auxiliary, the Baylor Faculty Wives Club, the Harris County Medical Society Auxiliary, and the Ferguson Clan of North America. She also studied at Tyler Junior College, Wharton Business School, the University of Houston, and the Glassell School of Art.

A determined spirit led her to travel, often with children, nieces and grandchildren, sometimes as the only adult with her young companions. Her most notable travels included a cross-country drive to attend the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962, multiple trips to the Kentucky Derby, and visits to Hawaii and Asia.

Marguerite considered raising her four energetic boys to be her greatest accomplishment; and joy, at least most of the time. Her kitchen was always open to welcome her sons and their friends and families; and an extra bed could always be made up somewhere.

Marguerite’s many jobs throughout her life included hardware store owner, legal secretary, and medical receptionist. During her 17-year career with Gulf Oil Corporation in Houston, she worked as a Certified Professional Secretary in medical and engineering departments before retiring in 1985

After spending most of her adult life in Houston, Marguerite moved to Brenham in 1996, where she joined First Baptist Church-Brenham. Her gregarious nature and ready smile quickly gained her many friends in her new home. She lived independently until earlier this year, when she moved to Argent Court.

Marguerite was preceded in death by her parents, Henry Clinton Ferguson and Lonnie Allynne Mason; siblings Royce Allen Ferguson, Sr. and Hazel Allyne Bletsch; her husband of 32 years Edwin Allen Chandler, M.D.; and her eldest son Edwin Thomas “Tommy” Toler, Jr. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law Regina and RC Toler of Alpine, Leslie and Stuart Chandler of San Antonio, and Denise and Don Chandler of Dallas. She also leaves numerous friends, cousins, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who knew her as “GG”. Not only was she a great-grandmother, she was a great grandmother!

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Marguerite’s memory to the charity of your choice.

Services are in the care of Brenham Memorial Chapel, 2300 Stringer St., Brenham, TX. 979.836.3611 Tributes may be shared at www.BrenhamMemorialChapel.com.