Alice Gandy O'Ferrall

On Tuesday, September 2, our beloved Mrs. O, Alice Caroline Gandy O'Ferrall, went to be with her Savior.

Her home, mind, and heart were filled with music, art, and words that pointed beyond themselves to the Lord of Tall Trees, the Ruler of All Hummingbirds, the Wildflower King (all names taken from a prayer by Douglas McElvey), and because of that, our imaginations are bigger, richer, and warmer.

Born on July 27, 1941, to Robert and Alice Toy Johnson Gandy, Alice grew up in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from Murrah High School in 1959, she majored in History at Newcomb College and later completed a master's degree at the University of Wisconsin. Alice embraced many roles in her 84 years: cub scout leader at the Mississippi School for the Blind and Deaf, actress in multiple productions at the Little Theater in Jackson, history teacher in private and public schools in Mississippi and New Orleans, and O'Ferrall family in-house presidential scholar.

She was a woman of conviction. She met Dick O'Ferrall because he lived around the corner in Belhaven, next to one of her best friends. From an early age, she knew she loved him, and it seems fitting that she joined him in heaven fifty-three years to the day after their wedding. She went to Camp DeSoto for the first time when she was in middle school, and from that first summer, she knew Lookout Mountain was her place. To quote her dear friend Bill Jamieson, "It is those pink ladies slippers in the woods below Up Top that will always define Alice. Seeking out just the right ecosystem to thrive–the perfect amount of moisture and dappled shade–they thrive as they embrace their symbiotic relationship with a particular soil fungus. Their blooms declare to all that they are happy right where they are. Alpine Camp and the mountain were that symbiotic soil for Alice." And as co-director of camp, she devoted the rest of her life to welcoming boys into that place so that they too might "grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man."

Dick adored her and always said she was the best thing that ever happened to Alpine Camp. They were a faithful pair, loving and serving campers and staff summer after summer. Their joy and laughter were contagious to anyone in their presence. Her careful attention to detail challenged all of us to strive for excellence in every aspect of our work. The most important seeds she planted were the countless times she shared the love of Christ by opening her home to friends, family and her camp family. She never had to unplug, as she simply never plugged in, choosing instead her ubiquitous yellow legal pad and a crisply sharpened pencil. Whether she was telling a pack of rascally boys the story of Gideon, introducing a room of college-aged men to Rachel Carson's A Sense of Wonder, or digging in the flower beds beside the gym, she pushed us to live in both the sacred and mundane moments with humor and purpose.

We have hope and peace in the truth that "Jesus says there is nothing broken that won't be mended, nothing sick that won't be healed, nothing dead that won't live again. Because God is making everything sad come untrue!" (taken from the Jesus Storybook Bible). Her faith has now turned to sight and for that we all rejoice!

Alice is survived by her daughters, Carter O'Ferrall Breazeale (Glenn) of Lookout Mountain, TN, and Toy O'Ferrall Harmon (Doug) of New Orleans, LA; grandchildren, Caroline and Gigi Breazeale and Jack and Sam Harmon; and many beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Dick; and her sister, Lucy Toy Gandy Clark.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Delta Streets Academy, P. O. Box 9895, Greenwood, MS 38930; Reformed University Fellowship, P. O. Box 890004, Charlotte, NC 28289-0004; or to the PCA Unity Fund, give.pcamna.org/to/pca-unity-fund/ (please note PCA Unity Fund - O'Ferrall memorial).

The burial at Lakewood Memorial Park in Jackson, Mississippi will be held on September 5th at 9:00 AM Central Time. The memorial service at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, will be held on September 8th, 2025, at 10:00 AM Eastern Time. The service will be livestreamed on the church's homepage lmpc.org. Visitation will be held from 4-6 PM Eastern Time on the afternoon of Sunday, September 7, at the church.

Visit the online obituary www.heritagechattanooga.com to post tributes and share memories.

Arrangements by Heritage Funeral Home, East Brainerd Chapel.