Laura K. MacPherson

Laura K. MacPherson, of Easton, died at Memorial Hospital in Easton on Saturday, July 30, 2005. She was 80. Born in Pittsburgh, PA, November 11, 1924, she was the daughter of the late William Seth and Laura Parsons Newnam Kirby. As a child, she moved to Talbot County with her family where she attended Oxford Elementary School and graduated from Easton High School on Idlewild Avenue in 1941. She then attended the University of Delaware where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1944 and, in 1947, received her nursing degree from Johns Hopkins University. She worked as an Operating Room Nurse in Chestertown, MD and Athens, GA before returning to Talbot County to make her home in Easton in 1954. The next several years were devoted to raising her family. In 1976, she was employed as the Camp Nurse at Camp Wright in Stevensville and then worked as a nurse and Director of Nursing at a nursing home in Cambridge until retiring in 1989. A member of Christ Church in Easton, she attended Emmanuel Wesleyan Chapel in Trappe. Devoted to her family and friends, she enjoyed playing bridge, watching basketball, soap operas and CNN News on the television and going to lunch after church. Mrs. MacPherson is survived by a daughter, Laurann M. Schwaninger and her husband, Melvin, of Trappe; two sons, R. D. MacPherson, III and his wife, Chris, of Bear, DE and D. Keith MacPherson and his wife, Myra, of Easton and five grandchildren, Joshua J. MacPherson, Benjamin R. MacPherson, Stephen G. MacPherson, John M. Schwaninger, III and his wife, Amy and Michael R. Gattis. Her first great – grandson is expected in November. A brother, William S. Kirby, Jr., died in May of 1994. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, August 3rd, at 11 A. M. at the Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., Easton. Burial will be at Spring Hill Cemetery, Easton. Friends may call at the funeral home on Tuesday, August 2nd, from 6 – 8 P.M. and one hour prior to service. Memorial donations may be made to Emmanuel Wesleyan Chapel, 29503 Piney Hill Road, Trappe, MD 21673 or to Spring Hill Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 92, Easton, MD 21601.