Shelby D. Ferguson

1923 - 2018

Shelby D. Ferguson, 94, of North Belle Vernon, went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in his home surrounded by his family. A son of the late Malcolm and Virginia Dent Ferguson, he was born in Belle Vernon on Nov. 21, 1923. A lifelong resident of Belle Vernon, he was a member of First United Methodist Church, the Tri-County Free and Accepted Masons Lodge 252, the Westmoreland, Indiana and Armstrong Counties Funeral Directors Association, the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association and the National Funeral Directors Association. He was also a life member of the North Belle Vernon Volunteer Fire Department. After graduating from Penn State University and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, he went into the funeral business, first in Monessen in 1948, and then he purchased his own funeral home in North Belle Vernon in 1956. He operated there until his retirement in 2001, selling the business to his son, Shelby. Survivors include his wife of 40 years, Jean Schneider Ferguson; three daughters and two sons-in-law, Lynn and Robert Nattress, of Shavertown, Pa., Claire Joseph, of Charlotte, N.C., and Carol and Gary Davis, of Fairfax, Va.; two sons and daughters-in-law, Mark and Natasha Ferguson, and Shelby and Susan Ferguson, all of Belle Vernon; six grandchildren, Heather Suggitt, of Houston, Texas, Chris Nattress, of Vail, Colo., Laura Gilchrist and her husband Tom, of Pleasant Hills, Adam Ferguson, of Belle Vernon, Karlee Ferguson, who followed in her grandfather and father's footsteps as a licensed funeral director, of Belle Vernon, and Ethan Davis, of Fairfax, Va.; and three great-grandchildren, Skylar Suggitt, Ray Gilchrist and Rosie Gilchrist. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by the mother of his children, Ruth Laird Ferguson, on July 12, 1976; a sister, Jean Melenyzer; and a brother, Malcolm Ferguson.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 20, 2018, at FERGUSON FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORY INC., 700 Broad Ave., Belle Vernon, www.FergusonFuneralHomeAndCrematory.com, 724-929-5300. Members of Free and Accepted Masons Lodge 252 will meet in the funeral home at 6:30 p.m. Friday to hold services followed by services at 6:45 p.m. with members of the North Belle Vernon Volunteer Department. Funeral services will be held in the funeral home at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 21, 2018. Interment will follow in Belle Vernon Cemetery.