Roll Call Tribute

Charles Winston Ferguson 

December 7, 1913 - April 22, 2011 

Charles Ferguson, political activist during the Pat and Jerry Brown years of the 1960s and 1970s, community builder and insurance executive, died on Good Friday, April 22, 2011. Charles's ninety-seven years embodied key moments in United States history.

Born December 7, 1913 in Bryan, Texas, eight months before World War I, Charles grew toward adulthood in 1920s rural America and had the good fortune to attend Texas A&M during the Great Depression.

In 1935, he began a seventy-two-year marriage to Julia Locke McCall Ferguson with whom he shared two daughters: Judy Sneed, who died in 2002 in Temple, Texas, and Patricia Weaver of Palo Alto, California.

In 1940, as the Great Depression gave way to pre-war preparations, Charles began a life-long career in casualty insurance, working first for a Dallas/Fort Worth company, through which he processed claims at Fort Hood, Texas.

On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor Day, Charles turned twenty-eight. As part of the prosperity-building 1950s, Charles and his family drove across an Eisenhower interstate highway to Los Angeles, where he became president of the California-based Balboa Insurance Company (later part of Avco). He and Julia lived in La Canada/Flintridge and in Corona Del Mar. In the 1960s, Charles, in keeping with America's globalization efforts, became president of Avco's domestic and overseas insurance companies and an Underwriting Member of Lloyds, London. In the late 1970s, he and Julia returned to Dallas to oversee Gulf and Western's insurance companies internationally.

In 1983, at age seventy, Charles "retired" but remained active in consulting. Throughout his career, Charles created job opportunities and prosperity for others.

As well, in 1964, he participated in Lyndon Johnson's re-election campaign. Actively engaged in California politics, he also worked with Governor Pat Brown and then campaigned for Governor Jerry Brown's election in the early 1970s. In both Los Angeles and Dallas, Charles and Julia fundraised for the arts. They also traveled extensively to places like China, India, and Egypt.

In the 1980s, Charles and Julia settled in Palm Springs' Seven Lakes, where they fundraised for The Boys and Girls Club, treasured deep friendships, and devoted themselves to building a Presbyterian church community. Charles also served as President of Seven Lakes, overseeing a remodeling project. After Julia died, Charles moved to The Fountains at Carlotta in Palm Desert in 2008. There, in 2010, he married Bobbie Mitchell, whom the entire family adores.

He is now survived by Bobbie, by his daughter Patricia and her husband Richard, by Judy's husband Marvin Sneed of Belton, Texas; by grandchildren Robert Sneed of Nashville, Cynthia and Fred Balda of Dallas, Philip and Cynthia Sneed of Roundrock, Texas, Tricia Weaver Moss and Charles Moss of San Francisco, David Weaver and Katelyn Gravelle of Seattle; by nine great-grandchildren and by two great-great-grandchildren. Motivated by love, Charles blessed many individuals.

A celebration of life will take place from 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. on May 21, 2011 at The Fountains at Carlotta. A memorial service takes place on June 4, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. at Cathedral City's Forest Lawn Chapel on Ramon Road.