Patricia May Ferrie MacPhail

Patricia May Ferrie MacPhail, November 1, 2025, 89. Resident of El Paso, Texas.

Mrs. Patricia M. MacPhail passed peacefully on November 1, 2025.

Born in Scotland on October 20, 1936, to Reverend Harold George Creighton Ferrie and May Isabel Ferrie, a schoolteacher, Mrs. Patricia (Pat) MacPhail devoted her life to caring for others. She trained as a midwife and registered nurse and went on to serve as Chief Ward Nurse at the Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital in Edinburgh, where she met her future husband and love of her life, Dr. Donald Clark MacPhail.

In 1966, Pat and Donald immigrated to the United States, where Dr. MacPhail had accepted the position of Associate Surgeon at the Carrie Tingley Hospital for Crippled Children in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Two years later, they made their home in El Paso, Texas, where Pat worked alongside her husband, providing compassionate medical care to the community for more than three decades.

In 1969, Pat founded the MacGregor Chester chapter of the Daughters of the British Empire, a charitable, non-profit, and non-political American society for women of British birth or ancestry. She remained a dedicated and active member for decades. Pat was especially beloved for arriving at events with fresh-cut flowers from her remarkable garden. Her pride and joy was her rose garden, where more than a dozen bushes produced exquisitely colorful blooms. Beside it, she and Donald kept a small putting green, ensuring they were always in practice for their next round of golf.

Pat was also known for her unfailing thoughtfulness. Each Sunday, she set aside time to write letters back to her family in Scotland and then to her children after they left for university—ultimately amassing hundreds of handwritten notes that remain treasured reminders of her love and constancy.

Mrs. MacPhail was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 54 years. She is survived by their children—Donald, Alastair, and Catriona—and their five grandsons: Donald, James, Xander, Griffin, and Elliot.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation, PO Box 25424, Albuquerque, NM 87125 (https://www.carrietingleyhospitalfoundation.org) or to the Naniboujou’s Legacy for SAST [Saving Animal in Shelters through Teaching] at the Center of Companion Animal Medicine at Colorado State University (https://col.st/QoS2h). Notes of condolences or fond memories can be sent to 625 Gait Cir, Fort Collins, CO, 80524.

Services entrusted to Sunset Funeral Homes-West, 480 N. Resler Drive, El Paso, Texas 79912.  Please visit her online memorial at www.sunsetfuneralhomes.net.