MVAC and Herbert M. Ferguson celebrate 100 years

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Ferguson

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning Valley Association of Churches will celebrate its 100th birthday by sponsoring the 100th birthday celebration banquet for Herbert M. Ferguson today at the Fifth Floor, 201 E. Commerce St.

MVAC will honor Ferguson as the face of faith, fortitude and futuristic dreams that has led the church to the present.

A World War II veteran, he persevered through the Great Depression, racism and adversity and managed to attain three degrees including two master’s degrees in education and social work. MVAC believes his endurance is the example of what will lead them through the next 100 years as they try to resolve race reconciliation, increased infant mortality rates and pulpit exchanges. MVAC congratulates Mr. Ferguson for reaching this milestone and making a difference in the city, state and nation.

Herbert Marvin Ferguson will be 100 years old June 26. He is the grandson of Eliza Washington, a freed slave from President George Washington’s plantation in Virginia.

He served his country in two foreign wars, WWII and the Korean War. During WWII he was drafted into the Army in April 1942 and served doing clerical work in units that trained infantry troops at a time when blacks were not generally assigned to combat units. After his discharge in 1945, he joined the West Virginia National Guard. At the age of 44 he was drafted into the Korean War where he served for two years and attained the rank of Warrant Officer.

Ferguson said, “I dreaded going to Korea because I would have to leave my family behind.” While in Korea, he worked in ordnance repairing big guns and tagging fallen American soldiers for shipment back to the states. “The bodies were piled up like logs in the back of the truck. It was a terrible sight that has been unforgettable,” he said. He was decorated with the United Nations Service Medal for Korea and the Korean War Service Medal with the Bronze Star.

He used his military benefits to finance a bachelor’s degree in education after WWII and earned a master’s degree at West Virginia University. Because of the racial bias at the time, Ferguson was only allowed to teach high school typing, so he moved north. After earning the second master’s degree, he came to Youngstown in 1957 to take a job as a social worker for the Child Guidance Center where he worked for about 10 years.

Ferguson also was a licensed barber and worked weekends at John’s Barbershop, owned by John English, at Westlake Crossing. After a family break up, he moved to Michigan where he worked for the Michigan Department of Mental Health, retiring in 1970.

Mr. Ferguson found his way back to Ohio in 1994 to assist his daughter, Nicolette (Nikki) Morgan, operating Morgan’s Lube, Oil & Car Wash on Market Street after her husband, Rev. Gerald Morgan, who built the business, passed away.

Ferguson’s family follows: Ida Ferguson of Head Start is his late wife; a daughter, Marva Ferguson Nathan of Boston is a Harvard graduate; the late Monessa Ferguson Tinsley, a daughter, was a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; and his daughter Nicolette Morgan is an author and former business owner. Eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren complete his family.

Ferguson says he has done nothing in particular to extend his life and as far as his accomplishments are concerned, he says, “I just did what was put in front of me, and I’m glad I did.”