Fern Esther MacAllister Sjoerdsma, a longtime resident of Southern Shores, died at home Tuesday, Sept. 17. She was 100.
Born May 5, 1924, in Jackson, Mich. to the late Neva Fern (Lewis) and Elwood K. MacAllister, Fern was a stand-out student from an early age, as well as a blue-eyed, curly-haired charmer. She never lost her love for learning or for life.
Fern attended a special primary school for accelerated students and graduated as valedictorian of her high school class. She went on to study zoology at the University of Michigan, receiving her bachelor’s in science degree in 1946, and to graduate from the UM School of Medicine in 1950, with a class that included only a handful of women.
During her fourth year of medical school, Fern fatefully met a brash and supremely confident intern named Albert Sjoerdsma, M.D., Ph.D. They married in 1950 and subsequently enjoyed more than 63 years together, traveling extensively as Al’s career flourished internationally. The couple had three daughters and a son. Dr. Al Sjoerdsma died in 2014.
Fern made her home in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., in the 1950s and 1960s, while Al pursued breakthrough clinical research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. She set her medical career aside to care for their children when they were young and finally did her residency in psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Fern practiced adult and child psychiatry in Bethesda and later in Cincinnati after she and her husband enjoyed a sojourn in Strasbourg, France because of Al’s work. She had a private solo practice and worked at community mental-health centers with at-risk youths. She especially enjoyed helping children cope with anxiety disorders.
The Sjoerdsmas first vacationed on the Outer Banks in 1965. Fern and Al bought an oceanfront lot in Southern Shores in 1967 for $10,000, and built the first cottage on pilings there in 1971. When they decided to retire, they chose the woods and the soundfront of Southern Shores.
A friendly and empathetic listener, Fern got to know her neighbors during her daily dog walks.
Fern painted portraits and landscapes and wrote poetry and short stories. In her later years, she derived pleasure from watching the birds and wildlife in her yard, while being tended by devoted caregivers Peggy Irvin (11 years), Anne Townsend, Cathy Keating, and others.
Above all else, Fern adored her family and was a loving and supportive mother. As she aged and experienced hardships, she never complained. She simply adapted. Up until her last weeks, she could laugh and have fun.
Fern is survived by her children, Leslie Sjoerdsma Swink (Mark) of Jacksonville, Fla.; Ann G. Sjoerdsma of Southern Shores; Albert Sjoerdsma Jr. of Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Britt L. Sjoerdsma of Sarasota, Fla.; her grandchildren, Allison Swink Cowell (Alex) and George Swink (Jackie); five great-grandchildren; a niece, two nephews, and other extended family. In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her grandson, Jason Sieberen Swink; her beloved brother George K. MacAllister; and two nephews.
Fern’s sixth great-grandchild, a boy named Alexander Jason Cowell, is expected to be born in October.
The family will host a visitation at the Gallop Funeral Home in Nags Head on Sunday, September 22, 2024 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The funeral will be a graveside service Monday, September 23, 2024 at 11 a.m. at the Southern Shores Cemetery, among the trees that Fern so loved. Gallop Funeral Services, Inc was entrusted with arrangements.
