Duane Ferris

Duane Elton Ferris was born October 15, 1923 to John H, and Elizabeth Doty Ferris in a farmhouse across the Susquehanna River from Laceyville, PA. He was the last of their 6 children.  When he was three the family moved to Sayre, PA. He graduated from Sayre High School in 1941. His induction into the U. S. Army occurred on Feb. 2, 1943.  He participated in the Army Specialized Training Program at Syracuse University and followed with assignment to Fort Bragg North Carolina. He went overseas to the South West Pacific Theater, serving in a heavy artillery battalion on Hilo and Cebu in the Philippines.  He was transferred to Hakodate, Hokaido, Japan landing there in October and shipping out for home in December 1946.

Following his military service he attended Grove City College, Grove City, PA, graduating cum laude. In 1949 he entered Dubuque Theological Seminary, graduating with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1952. He was ordained by the Presbytery of St. Joseph in Fairfax, Missouri where he served for five years. He accepted a call to the Presbyterian-Congregational Church in Calumet, MI.  While there he also served as Auxiliary Chaplain at a nearby radar station. He next went to Boyne City as pastor for the Boyne City and Bay Shore Presbyterian Churches and served there until September 1977. While there he participated in a chaplaincy training program at Harper Hospital in Detroit. This was followed with a year of chaplain training in Des Moines, Iowa at the Methodist Hospital. In September 1973 he received a call to the Presbyterian Church in Morristown, NJ.  One of three pastors there, he retired in April 1989 and moved to a home on Clam River near Bellaire, MI.

Back in the Presbytery he had left in 1972, he moderated Sessions in Bellaire and Elk Rapids and served on several Presbytery Committees. He and his wife. Doris, moved to Traverse City in the fall of 2013 and became residents of then Hope Village in July 2014.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, two sisters and his wife Doris of 68 years. His survivors include David (Toni), Acme, MI; James (Laura) Marquette, MI; Paul (Debi) Boyne City, MI; and Mark (Maxine), Traverse City, MI 12 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the Church in the Hills, Bellaire, 1:00 PM, Friday, Nov. 30.

In lieu of flowers gifts may be sent to Church in the Hills, P.O. Box 319, Bellaire, MI  49615 or Samaritas Senior Living, 4354 Mt. Hope Rd,Williamsburg, MI 49690.

Arrangements are being handled by the Bellaire Chapel of Mortensen Funeral Homes. Please sign his online guestbook www.mortensenfuneralhomes.com.