Daniel Clinton Ferguson

Daniel Clinton Ferguson

Daniel Clinton Ferguson, 73, beloved husband, father, Papa, brother, and friend, died at his home in the company of loved ones on November 15, 2021 in Toledo, Ohio, after living a full and giving life, positively impacting countless people.

Born in Beech Grove, Indiana, Dan grew up in Greenfield, Indiana. He attended college at Michigan Christian College, where he met his wife, Phyllis, (he said he knew he would marry her the first time he saw her). They wed in December 1968.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1969 and after training in Vietnamese and radio interception in Texas, shipped off to Vietnam, where his typing skills—more valuable even than interpretation—landed him in operations.

Back home, Dan received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Classics from Indiana University and a degree in religious studies from Harding Graduate School in Memphis, TN. They moved from Bloomington, Indiana to Bellevue, Ohio where he was a minister, then moved back to Indiana to work as foster parents through Shults-Lewis Children and Family Services. Over the next decades, Dan and Phyllis would lovingly care for more than fifty foster children, while raising their own family, which would ultimately include five birth and five adopted children.

The family moved to Toledo in 1980, and Dan once again changed careers, taking on as a profession what he had been by nature all along: a teacher. After he retired from Rogers High School where he taught English and Latin, he subbed for Toledo School for the Arts for many years and at St. Ursula Academy.

Dan was a gifted vocalist and sang with many ensembles and choirs over the years: Musica Antigua, Masterworks Chorale, Clarence Smith Community Chorus, First Congregational Church Choir, Christ Presbyterian Church Choir, and many others. He could also be found at events around Toledo singing everything from opera arias to Broadway tunes to Scottish ballads, invariably wearing his kilt and sporran. He was a fixture at Mud Hens games, singing the national anthem for them 169 times, for the Walleye 23 times, and a handful of times for Major League teams the Oakland A's, Toronto Blue Jays, and Cleveland Indians. An avid baseball fan, he also played league softball into his 70s and enjoyed many other hobbies: fishing, golf, chess and other games of strategy, playing cards and board games with family and friends, reading, playing piano and hand bells, writing poetry, trivia games, and correcting people's grammar.

Nothing, however, was as important to him as family. At one of his last major family gatherings, the graduation party of his grandson, Raymond, Dan shared that he was asked many years ago what his proudest accomplishment was. He answered he was proud of the degrees he had earned. But now, he said, his answer would be "This big, loving family."

He is survived by his wife and best friend of 53 years, Phyllis; daughters, Lydia (Jeff Horvath), Tabitha (Jeff Thibert), Kim, Rolizia; honorary daughters, Deborah Crews and Michelle (Joshua Reimers); sons, Ben (Pat Vander Reest), Philip Jesse (Maureen Irungu), Nathan (Don Kuntz), Josh, Kenny, Emmanuel; honorary son, Carl Tielking (Carol); sisters, Marsha (Mike Penner), Connie Faddis, Letha Ferguson, and Paula Reich; grandchildren, Emma, Raymond, Arrianna, Taylor, Frederick; and honorary granddaughter, Megan; many nieces and nephews; might-as-well-be daughters and sons; and many friends. He was preceded in death by his father, William Ferguson; mother, Mary Reich; stepfather, Gerald Reich; brothers, Keith and Gregg; and sister, Linda. He is no doubt once again serenading them while beating them all at cards.

Dan will be celebrated at a memorial service at Christ Presbyterian Church on Sunday November 21 at 3:00 p.m. The family requests masks be worn. In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor can be made to SmileTrain or Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.