Audrey Ferries

Audrey Helen Ferries at the age of 100 passed away on June 6, 2026, at Westview Health Care Center surrounded by her family.  She entered the arms of her Lord and Savior.

The seventh child and third daughter of Eugene and Lula DeWitt, Audrey was born on April 28, 1926, on their dairy farm near Dell, Wisconsin.  The doctor was late and Audrey was delivered by her 94-year-old Aunt Doranda Clark who had been a midwife to 83 children.

Her early childhood was helping with farm chores and playing with her siblings. Typical for many small farms, the family was nearly self-sufficient in raising all their own food.  Audrey had a pet pig, Snooky, who met her at the road when she walked home after school.  Christmas was a modest celebration with gifts of nuts and fruit.  During the Great Depression the family lost the farm, so in 1934 they loaded their belongings (including the kitchen stove) in a horse-drawn wagon and drove their livestock to a leased farm 20 miles away near Wilton, Wisconsin.  Audrey and her siblings walked the entire trip.  She loved the farm life, especially working with all the animals.

After graduating from Wilton High School in 1944, Audrey traveled by train to Washington, D.C. where she had obtained a job with the U.S. Post Office for the war effort.  It was the first time she lived in a place with indoor plumbing.  Occasionally while walking to work, she would exchange waves with President Truman across the street.  She returned home in June 1945. Her family attended the Methodist Church where she had known John W. Ferries.  John, an Army Ranger, had been liberated from a German POW camp after being a prisoner for 18 months and was home on leave.  Audrey and John started dating and were soon engaged. He was discharged after the surrender of Japan.  They married October 20, 1945, a marriage of 72 years until John’s passing in 2018.  Their first son, Greg, arrived August 1, 1946, followed by Susan, Dave, and Jim.  Audrey and John owned the town furniture store, funeral home, and the local bank, along with taking care of their family farm in La Farge, Wisconsin.  They decided to move west and on July 19, 1965 arrived in Sheridan where they purchased and operated Ferries Funeral Home and Ambulance Service.  While helping with the family business, Audrey also worked as a sales clerk in several retail businesses, notably Kraft’s Jewelry and Stevens Fryberger.   

After selling Ferries Funeral Home, they ranched on Beaver Creek west of Sheridan where they raised registered black Angus cattle, quarter horses, and Belgian draft horses.  Audrey’s favorite memories were taking the Belgian draft horses on several horse-drawn wagon train excursions in Wyoming and Montana.  She was a life-long member of the First United Methodist Church.

Audrey loved her family and relished in the achievements of her children and grandchildren.  She is survived by three children:  Susan Berberick, David  (Beth) Ferries,  and James (Laura) Ferries:  5 grandchildren, Jennifer Ferries, William (Courtney) great-grandchildren Caroline, Lucy, John, Jack, and George Ferris, Margaret (Baxter) great-grandchildren Luke, David, and Vivian Roberson, Andrew (Kelsey) great-grandchildren Desmond and Charlie Ferris,            Evelyn (Ryan) great-grandchildren Levi and Jesse Sellden.  Daughter-in-law (Jane Devon Buell) and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents (Eugene and Lula DeWitt), siblings (Violet, Carroll, Clarence, Cassius, Jack, Garnet, and Jasper), son (Gregory John Ferries), and son-in-law (John Francis Berberick). 

She lived at Cascades at Sugarland Ridge, before transitioning to Westview Health Care Center.  The family expresses their sincere appreciation to the staff of Westview Health Care Center and Cascades at Sugarland Ridge for their devoted care of Audrey. 

“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her”

                                                                                                                 Proverbs 31:28

A private family burial will take place. Online condolences may be made to www.sheridanfuneral.com. Arrangements are under the care of Sheridan Funeral Home.