Robert Ferguson

Robert Cartwright Ferguson was born 92 years ago on January 7, 1919, in Doniphan Missouri, a small town in the Ozark foothills of southeast Missouri. He passed away February 2, 2011 in an Austin nursing home. Graveside services will be 11 AM Monday, February 7, 2011 at Woodland Park Cemetery in Mineral Wells, Texas. He grew up in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, a small city just 30 miles east of Doniphan. In 1939 he was graduated from Southeast Missouri State University and later earned a Masters Degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia. In 1941 Bob entered military service and served as head of the Officer Personnel Department at Camp Wolters, Texas, until his discharge in 1945. While there, he met Jacquelyn Tibbs of Mineral Wells, and they were married in 1947, a union that was blessed with 62 years if happiness. In 1949 a son, Robert Mark, was born to this union in St. Charles, Missouri. In 1991 Mark passed away in Chicago, where he had established his own architectural firm. Throughout Bob's career he was a high school teacher, an instructor at the University of Missouri and St. Louis University, a newspaper editor, and a Personnel Executive. In 1980 he retired from the McDonnell Douglas Corporation as Corporate Director of Personnel. He and Jackie then moved from St. Louis to Orlando, Florida. While retired in Florida, Bob was active in several volunteer positions in the Social Security Office in Sanford and at Seminole Community College (where he taught English for Those Speaking Other Languages). From 1983 to 2000 he held responsible volunteer positions with Florida Hospital. From 1988 to 2004, he and Jackie drove regularly for the Meals-on-Wheels service. In 2006 Bob and Jackie moved to Austin, Texas, to be closer to her sister Mary Sue Winton and her family. Bob enjoyed his life with Jackie at the Summit at Northwest Hills until her death in June, 2009. He had since lived at Colonial Gardens in Austin and made many new friends there. Bob's parents were Southern Baptists, and he became a member of their church at age nine. He married a Southern Baptist, Jackie, in a ceremony performed in the First Baptist Church of Mineral Wells, Texas. In 1967, they became Presbyterians. Bob's center of concern since 1969 has been care for Jackie after she was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis and could no longer be active in business, church, and social affairs. The loving consideration and support he gave her through all those years characterized a man who was devoted to the lady of his life, and who, in his retirement years, gave support to many recipients of his faithful volunteer work. Bob is survived by sisters-in-law, Mary Sue Tibbs Winton (Austin) and Mac Ella Tibbs Davis (Largo, Florida) and many loving nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren. The family wants to thank the devoted staff at Colonial Gardens in Austin and the compassionate team of Odyssey Hospice for their care and kindness.