Posted on 02/20/2020
Jane DuGué Ferguson Junghans (March 9, 1938 ~ February 12, 2020)
Jane DuGué Ferguson Junghans, 81, passed away peacefully on February 12, 2020 in Alexandria, VA, surrounded by her adoring family. A vivacious, playful soul, Jane embraced life, love, friendship and faith with limitless devotion. A career tour guide, she was named Emeritus Certified Master Guide in 2018 and honored as Guide of the Year in 2013. These and other honors were bestowed for her encyclopedic knowledge of the city’s history and lore, always imparted with her unmatched gift for storytelling and her trademark wit. While leading tours was her vocation, it was also her spiritual calling. When she wasn’t captivating tourists at Ford’s Theater, the memorials, or the Capitol, she was enthralling school groups and seniors alike at the National Cathedral with her animated narratives of the moon rock set in stained glass, the crypt holding the remains of Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller; and countless facts about every glorious facet of the nation’s house of worship, where, as she was quick to say, all are welcome.
Jane began her lifelong passion for leading tours in Naples, Italy, where she arrived as a young Naval wife to her beloved husband, Commander Peter Austin Junghans. While other newly transplanted families adjusted to culture shock, Jane dove in, learning Italian and organizing trips to Florence, Paestum, Prague, Tunis, and Paris for NATO wives ready to explore the world. Jane and Peter’s lifelong love story began in 1942 in Pearl Harbor, where both their Naval officer fathers were stationed. Soon after the Dec. 7 attack, both families were evacuated and so the two infants "met" on the SS Lurline—little did anyone know that one day they would marry. They met again in 1956, while Jane was at Mary Washington College after graduating from St. Agnes School in Alexandria. Peter asked her to a Christmas dance at the Naval Academy and soon the two were going steady. They married in 1958 and on their first anniversary, the first of three daughters, Lida, was born. As a young mother, Jane modeled the wonders of a life richly lived and raised Lida, Trennie, and Jamie to be equally curious, optimistic citizens of the world. She and the young family traveled the globe, living up and down both US coasts and in 19 locales including Italy, Iran, and Greece. And along the way, she collected treasures and hobbies, learning calligraphy; leading classes in Renaissance art, and creating scores of handmade Christmas ornaments for legions of friends and fans.
Jane was born to Captain James DuGué Ferguson and Frances Barrow Ferguson in 1938. She is survived by siblings Frances Rowan of Reston, VA; Susan Pelosi of San Francisco; and James Ferguson of Virginia Beach, VA, as well as by husband Peter Austin Junghans of Alexandria, VA; daughters Lida Ferguson Junghans of Arlington, MA; Frances Trenholme Junghans of Dundee, Scotland; and Jamie Junghans Shaw of Mill Valley, CA. She is also survived by her beloved granddaughter, Emma Perrow of Arlington, MA and her two doting sons-in-law, Jeffrey Murer of Dundee, Scotland and Michael Shaw of Mill Valley, CA.
A service will be held at the Washington National Cathedral on March 6, 2020 at 11 am. A celebration of life memorial will be held later in the Spring as Jane is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Washington National Cathedral.
https://www.everlywheatley.com/tributes/Jane-Junghans