Emily Mcduffie Ferrara

The relatives and friends of Emily M. Ferrara are invited to attend her Funeral Service at 10:30 AM Wednesday, December 11, 2013, at the Graveside, Live Oak Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends this Tuesday evening between 5:00 and 7:00 PM at the James A. McAlister Funeral Home, 1620 Savannah Hwy. Emily was born in Mullins, S.C. on December 29, 1923 to Emily Christina Calhoun and Robert Ellerbe McDuffie. She was raised in Charleston and attended local elementary schools, Memminger High School and graduated from the College of Charleston in 1944. Both she and her future husband graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1949 and in June of that year they married. Emily went on to intern at Baylor University Hospital and they returned to Charleston in 1950 as first year residents at Roper Hospital. After a year in Maryland where Bernie completed his service at the U.S. Naval Station, the Ferraras came back to Charleston to stay. They both entered private practice and Emily retired in 1963 after the birth of her sixth child. In her later years, Emily was an entrepreneur and devoted mother and grandmother. She was predeceased by a son, Ronald E. Ferrara and is survived by five children: Marie F. McGahan and her husband, Pat, Bernard E. Ferrara, Jr. and his wife, Diane, Clifford G. Ferrara, Martin E. Ferrara and Charles F. Ferrara; a sister, Mildred M. Lyons; a brother, Robert E. McDuffie, Jr; and eight grandchildren. Her guestbook may be signed at www.JamesAMcAlister.com Memorial contributions may be made to St. Mary's Church Restoration Fund, 89 Hasell St., Charleston, SC 29401 or to a charity of one's choice.