With extreme sadness we announce the transition of the legendary Rev. John A. Ferguson. He founded Second Baptist Church, one of the largest black churches in South Florida.

At the Miami-Dade County School Board meeting of August 23, 2000, he was memorialized by the naming of a school in his honor. This is how he is remembered on the website of John A. Ferguson Senior High School, Home of the Falcons.

Reverend John Alphonso Ferguson was born on July 23, 1923 in Miami, Florida. He graduated from Carver Senior High School in 1941 and served with the United States Navy for twenty-one years during World War II and the Korean Conflict. Reverend Ferguson is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary (1954) in New York City and Virginia Union University (1947) in Richmond, Virginia. He and his wife, Anita, have five children (three boys and two girls).

For the past thirty-one years, Reverend Ferguson has dedicated himself to the Second Baptist Church in Richmond Heights, which he founded in 1964. In addition to leading his growing community of parishioners, he has served to unite the multi-cultural population by serving on the Community Relations Board of Metropolitan Dade County. This board played an essential role in keeping the peace during the Liberty City riots of the 1980's, and the bringing of necessary resources to the community in the aftermath. The relationship between the different races in our county has had few moments more tumultuous than when Federal Judge Clyde C. Atkins ordered the desegregation of all public schools. Reverend Ferguson's leadership skills were tapped once again to serve on the School Desegregation Committee and assist with desegregation of all public schools.

Details of his Homegoing celebration are incomplete at this time. Rest in Peace, Rev. Ferguson.