1.30.2012

Cool people I don't know: Rosemary Ferrie

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A couple of years ago when down in California we went to The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial. It's a beautiful memorial, and I could have spent ages looking at all the plaques (handsome fighter pilots, cute nurses). You can see my post featuring some photos here

 One plaque in particular never left my mind though, and that was honoring Parmely T. Ferrie and Rosemary (Egan) Ferrie. He was a captain and she a nurse, and besides being adorable, Rosemary wore a wedding gown made from the parachute Parmely used to bail out of a B-24 bomber. 

That right there made me incredibly curious as to what her dress looked like, and what kind of life she led. Today she popped into my mind again, and I googled her name, only to find her obituary. First I was sad to learn of her passing, but then I clicked on the photo album, and photos of her in her parachute wedding dress popped up.

So although I'm sorry she's gone, even though I've never met her, I'm glad that she seemed to live a nice life with Parmely and now I can share her wedding dress with you, for those who were as curious as I!

 They married on July 27th 1946, and had six children. She got her AA degree in San Diego, traveled extensively with her husband, and spent most of her nursing career helping alcoholics and drug addicts. Yep, this lady sounds like someone anyone would have liked to have known.

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All photos and information from here

17 comments:

Janey said...

I love hearing stories like this, and thanks for sharing!

I saw a parachute wedding gown when I was in Idaho visiting the Warhawk Air Museum. http://atomicredhead.com/warhawk-air-museum/

Violet Folklore said...

So amazing!
Thank you for sharing this.

The Glamorous Housewife said...

What a wonderful story! And the dress is beautiful.

Thanks doll,
The Glamorous Housewife

The Splendid Suitcase said...

What an amazing story! Thank you so much for sharing. The dress looks wonderful.

Margaux

nicóle said...

I love this post! This is so inspiring. I want to go find cool people I don't know too!!!

Sara said...

the wedding dress out of a parachute is just *too cool*. I would totally do something like that!

art deco dame said...

Great story!

Charlotte said...

Awesome! Thanks for sharing :)

xx Charlotte
Tuppence Ha'penny

Michelle Marie said...

What an inspiring story and life this lady lead! Thank you so much for sharing her with us.

I still cannot get over how that elegant dress was made from a parachute! Blows my mind. So amazing!

Casey Maura said...

Wow. I love reading about women who led such full lives as she seemed to. Not to mention making a wedding dress out of repurposed materials--parachute wedding gowns always fascinate me! :)

SassySisterVintage said...

A really interesting post! Have you ever done any of your own geneology to find out who *your* ancestors are? It's super interesting and gives you a better perspective on who you.

Miss Woody said...

gorgeous photos !!

In The Heyday said...

Lovely story, thanks for sharing. I love her wedding headdress too

M said...

Just stumbled upon this and thought of your post. It's nice to be able to see a parachute dress in such detail.

http://newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/parachute-wedding-dress

Phyllis D. James said...

Parmely looked very much like his brother, David W. Ferrie, who was investigated by Jim Garrison. According to Judyth Vary Baker, in her book Me and Lee, Ferrie and Lee Harvey Oswald were close friends in New Orleans in 1963.

Unknown said...

Glad you liked Mom's dress. I was lucky enough to wear it at my wedding too. There wasn't a dry eye in the church when our Minister told "The Great Parachute Story." Mom and Dad were wonderful parents, we were all very blessed to have them. There was always laughing and singing in our house and everyone was welcome. Dad just passed away on New Year's Eve. We miss them both very much.

Anonymous said...

That woman was my Great-Grandmother, and my youngest sister Katherine Rose is named after her. She was a wonderful woman and everyone in our enormous family loved her. She offered to give me her wedding dress (I don't intend to use it, one of my cousins can.) We all miss her very much, but she is survived by a small army of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.