James Lavada Ferguson was born June 7, 1933 in Madison, Illinois. He was the first of five children to Samuel Grant Ferguson and Mary Martha Ferguson. He graduated from Alton Senior High in Illinois in 1951. Later James completed his Aeronautical Engineering degree from the University of Illinois. After graduation he moved to Compton, California, where he met and married Gaynelle Johnson and helped to raise his three stepsons: Robert, Ronald, and Kenneth Johnson. From 1955-1988, James worked for companies that had contracts with the government to help develop the NASA space program. It was during this time that James renewed his relationship with God and began his spiritual walk. Eventually, he moved back to the St. Louis area and joined the St. Louis Bibleway Church where he and his younger brother were ordained as deacons. Since then he has studied to show himself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. His mother, father, and one younger brother, Samuel G. Ferguson, preceded James in death, Jr. "Uncle Jim" died on Monday, April 19, 2010. His sister Helen Brown, and two brothers, Larry and Kenneth Ferguson, survives him. The surviving siblings and their respectively families will surely miss "Uncle Jim".