JDee R. Ferguson

Age 94 of Fridley, MN passed away peacefully on April 15, 2020. JDee was born in Des Moines, Iowa on June 7, 1925. His parents were Madalyn (Conn) & Harvey William Ferguson. After graduation from Spencer Iowa High School he was drafted into the Army and was trained at Camp Barkley in Texas for Medical Corp Training. He was a WWII Vet and served proudly in the European and South Pacific theatres and was mustered out in 1945. He loved his United States of America. He was always thankful for the GI bill which educated him at Wayne State Teachers College in Nebraska for secondary teaching. He was proud to play on the only undefeated (1949) football team. The team was inducted into the Wayne State College Hall of Fame in 1999 and JDee attended. His 1st year of teaching was in South Sioux City, Nebraska where he was the assistant football coach and taught high school science. In 1952-1959 his teaching career took him to West Bend Iowa where he was a successful football coach and teacher of all sciences. Over the next four summers he completed his Masters Degree in Education at the University of South Dakota Vermillion. In 1959 JDee became a pharmaceutical salesman for Eaton Laboratories ( a division of Norwich Company) which was later purchased by Proctor & Gamble. He remained in hospital sales and clinical work for 30 yrs. mainly at the Mayo Clinic, University of MN. He retired in March of 1989. JDee was married to Dorothy Jean Giesler of Hartington Nebraska. They were married for over 54 years. She was the love of his life! As time went on he found companionship with a wonderful woman Kathryn Schultz from Ft Collins CO. She was from West Bend Iowa as was JDee in his younger years and they traveled to Arizona, Alaska, and many wonderful places together. They were a perfect match, even though they argued occasionally. Ha! He made many trips to Ft Collins to be with Kathryn and her family. He found a 2nd family with them all and an abundance of LOVE! JDee enjoyed his retirement by fishing, hunting, and traveling thru out the United States and Mexico. In later years he was an expert at “paint by numbers.” Even at the age of 92 he maintained a steady hand and his family has many of his artwork pieces. His favorite models were animals, birds, and outdoor scenes. He is preceded in death by wife, Dorothy; parents, Madalyn & Harvey; sister, Marilee Menditto. He is survived by children, Shiela (Steve) Carlson, Kelly Ferguson, Virginia (Bruce) Bergerson & Patrick (Wende) Ferguson; 5 grandchildren, Jennifer, Angela, Daniel, Erin 3 great grandchildren, Graeme, Liesl & Abigail; also, his longtime companion, Kathryn (Koch) Schultz of Ft Collins CO and her family. JDee will be cremated and will be interred at the Veterans Ft Snelling Memorial Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN with his wife Dorothy. A service will be decided later, and notice sent out to family and friends who would like to attend. In Lieu of flowers etc. any donations of money will be given to Wayne State Teachers College/Athletic Fund.