Services and interment with military rites for Margaret “Peg” (Mann) McPherran (99) and Dr. Archie L. McPherran (94) will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.
Memorials may be directed to the Dr. Archie L. and Margaret P. McPherran Scholarship, c/o Wayne State College, 1111 Main Street, Wayne, Neb. 68787 (Attention: WSC Foundation).
Peg was born Nov. 29, 1921 in Pontypridd, Wales, Great Britain. She died June 12, 2021 at her home in Sacramento, California. Archie was born Feb. 15, 1920 in Dixon County, the second oldest of 14 children, including two sets of twins. He died Dec. 7, 2014 holding his wife’s hand at their home in Sacramento, California.
Archie and Peg met at the Officer’s Club in Norfolk, Virginia in May 1944 where he was a Navy Officer and she was a Navy Nurse. They were married Aug. 27, 1945 at Wee Kirk O’The Heather in Glendale, California. They had two sons, Mark and Bruce, and had been married for 69 years when Archie passed away. Bruce passed away in 2003 from a brain tumor.
Archie attended a one room rural school through the fifth grade. He went on to graduate from Wayne State College, attend Princeton University, earned a Master’s degree from Western Reserve University, and a Doctorate degree from the University of Nebraska. He served as an Educational Administrator in Nebraska, Illinois, and California. He retired after serving as Vice Chancelor under Governor Reagan. He then worked as a financial broker. During WWII he was an active duty Navy Officer serving aboard an aircraft carrier that was involved in combat in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. His carrier was seriously damaged by Japanese suicide planes off Okinawa in April 1945. Archie was a member of Phi Delta Kappa, Sons of the American Revolution, and was an Honorary Admiral in the Nebraska Navy. Wayne State College gave him an Academic Achievement Award , and the University of Nebraska School of Education named him one of its notables. Dr. McPherran is the author of five books and numerous published articles.
Peg emigrated to the U.S. when she was four with her family. After becoming a registered nurse, Margaret joined the Navy Nurse Corps during World War II. She liked telling her nephew Randy McPherran, "at 99 she was probably the oldest living nurse from WWII," but instructed him to not say anything until after she was dead so it wouldn’t mess with her pension. In 1963 Peg graduated Magna Cum Laude with her B.S. degree in Nursing from Fresno State. Later when the family moved to Sacramento, she accepted a position as a mental health nurse with Sutter Hospital. When she retired in 1975 she had advanced her way to become Head Nurse of her department during the 1970’s and 80’s. Peg and Archie loved to travel. They visited all 50 states and 27 countries. She loved to knit and made scarves, hats, and hand warmers for the homeless. Peg also knitted projects for the Cordova Christmas Project. Reading was also a lifelong passion.
Survivors include their son, Mark (Neda) McPherran; Bruce’s widow, Michelle McPherran; granddaughters Caitlin Lombardi and Kaylen McPherran; grandsons Ian, Andrew, and Stuart McPherran; great grandsons Peter, Greyson, Colby, Lincoln McPherran, and Oliver and Henry Lombardi; great granddaughter Charlotte Lombardi, and Archie’s brother, sisters, and sister-in-law Hazel Bern, Betty Hartung, Jeannette (Carlson) Boyer and Jerry (Karen) McPherran, and many neices and nephews.
Archie and Peg were preceded in death by Peg’s sister, Patricia, and her brother Robert; Archie’s brothers and sisters, Blanche, Harold, Donald, Dorthy Elton, Darrell, Bonnie Elton, Ruth Moore, Russell, and their spouses, and brothers-in-law Marvin Bern and Wallace Hartung.
