Clare Ferguson

Clare Ferguson was known as many things to many people. He was a loved one, a friend, and someone special. To family and friends who knew him best, Clare will be remembered as a very exceptional person.

      Clare was born on July 15, 1944 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. He was the only one in the family born in a hospital. He is the son of William (Bill) and Alvina Ferguson. Clare grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

      Clare was raised with 2 siblings. He had one older brother Glenn and one older sister Willa. Clare was usually involved in all sorts of activities with his siblings. He and his siblings experienced rivalries typical of a growing family, but they shared many life experiences over the years.

      As a young boy, Clare had a number of interests. Like most children, he enjoyed playing and making up games. He was curious about the world around him and was often eager to explore it. In his spare time he liked putting things together, taking them apart and he liked building things. However, to Clare, the most fun to be had was simply playing and spending time with his friends.

      A typical teenager, Clare had a fairly happy high school experience, making that critical transition from adolescence to adulthood. He enjoyed some classes more than others, having favorite subjects and teachers. His favorite class in high school was woodworking.

      Always considered a “good” friend to those he knew, Clare enjoyed a broad group of acquaintances and several very close friends during his lifetime. Later in life, he became bestest friend of his cousin Larry Ferguson and close friend of his cousin Dennis Ferguson.

             Clare worked hard to be a good father to his children and he did his best to fulfill their needs. Clare was blessed with raising 3 children. Special father of Denise Wainwright (Darren), step father of Curtis Schwartz (Tammy) and Lauri Zuzan.

      Fortunately, Clare enjoyed what he did for a living. Showing a strong work ethic, Clare worked diligently and did his best to succeed in his career. He was employed at Algoma Steel for about 10 years and then for North Country Log Homes in Chapleau for 30 plus years. Clare always sought to be a team player, doing what was necessary in order to get the job done.

      Clare enjoyed his leisure time by taking part in various hobbies. His favorite pursuits were his computer and cell phone. He was content to enjoy his favorite pastimes alone but was also willing to share his interests with others.

      Clare enjoyed traveling and time away on vacations. It was a chance for him to renew and relax, to visit new places and experience new things. Favorite vacations included trips he and Larry took, our trip to Nashville and some camping.

      When Clare’s retirement finally arrived in 2005, he was well prepared. In retirement, he found new pleasure in taking care of the yard, especially the pond area and any household projects Margaret had lined up for him.

Clare passed away on August 10, 2015 at Algoma Residential Community Hospice. Clare had stage 4 lung cancer that had spread to his liver. He is survived by his spouse Margaret Berlinguette, Denise Wainwright (Darren), Curtis Schwartz (Tammy) and Lauri Zuzan. Services were held at the Arthur Funeral Home on August 13, 2015. Clare was laid to rest in Greenwood Cemetery, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

      Simply stated, Clare was a good and kind person, an individual who will for all time be remembered by his family and friends as being a caring and giving person, someone who was a vital part of their lives. Clare leaves behind him a legacy of life-long friendships and many cherished memories. Everyone whose life he touched will always remember Clare Ferguson.

Stacey Ferguson's Eulogy

This is not going to be easy. I remember when Uncle Clare use to come for a visit, we would go running down the hall, my sister and me, and say Uncle Clare is here and we would always get the biggest hug from him. I was always, always so happy to see him when we were kids. I remember he had the coolest van and when I was a kid I didn't know how cool vans actually were, it had a bumper sticker inside “ass, gas or grass, nobody rides for free”. I didn't know what it meant at the time, but I do now. I remember sitting in that van with him and he was singing away to this song. I remember thinking, gee he sounds just like that guy singing it. It was Lionel Ritchie singing. Clare had the same curly hair, and every time I hear this song I always thought of uncle Clare and I would like to share this song with you. “Sail On”

Margaret's Eulogy (read by neighbour Pat Mathews)

Not sure what I am going to do without you. You were my everything. You did everything for me. I will miss you forever and ever. Love you to the moon and back.

Margaret

Dorothy Caruso's Eulogy (read by nephew Larry Doherty)

My dear brother in law Clare. I am so sorry that you are gone. You were always there for me. Fixing everything that was broken, building my clothes line stand for me and always coming to my rescue when something was broken. Like my dryer or my kitchen sink. You even installed my fans for me. I know I don't require help now but when I did you were always there for me. Thank you Clare for everything you did for me. I'm really going to miss you.

Your loving sister in law – Dorothy

PS – God please help Margaret get on with her life. I know it will be hard but if she needs help with anything I will be there for her, I love you Margaret and I'm sure you will be OK. I'm sure he will go to heaven and will be with God.

Your loving sister – Dorothy

Larry Doherty's Eulogy

Just a couple of words and a couple of memories – how about that Tom Petty, just a really cool song for a very cool guy. I got to wear his tie today and I just thought I wanted to share that and let you know I felt really cool wearing it – thanks.

Neighbour Pat Mathews Eulogy

When some one dies, we have a need to try to express what that person meant to us, what we feel they were about.

I am, and I know you are, consoled by memories of Clare. Today I would like to share some of my memories as a neighbour.

Over 30 years ago, Marg, Clare and Denise moved next door to us. Clare worked up north on the Log Homes and was gone for the weekdays and home on the weekends. When home, I would often see Clare, Marg and little Denise, (yes Denise was once a little girl) out riding their bikes. They were very active.

Clare was often planning something....fixing the yard, planting trees, removing trees, building the fence, putting in the swimming pool, and on and on. Often my first husband Vic was involved giving a helping hand where needed but it was always Clare in the lead and Clare trouble shooting any of the many problems that often arise when working on any project. Anyone visiting their home will recognize that the same fence pattern was used in both yards. This was 2 guys on a mission.

As couples, we would often play a game of cards and share a swim in their pool. As a matter of fact, when they went to fill the pool initially, hoses were run from both our houses. We often laughed that the top half of the water was from our house and we swam in our portion of it. Clare mentioned that he felt our half had evaporated and we were now using their half. This would cause a good laugh between us. These were fun times for both families. The bonfire was also a favourite past time in those days. I'm sure Denise remembers this.

As many of you here know, their yearly pool party for Clare's birthday was a norm with everyone bringing something for the potluck meal. Marg was always the planner for this and invitations were always out early by a month or two. Through the years we noticed that the 1 am parties, went to midnight parties and went to 11 pm parties and on downward. You could tell we were all ageing.

I will say that even though sitting by the bonfire in the dark evening skies, it was always a softer noise and very respectful of any of the other neighbours. No police needed to be called to their party.

When Vic got terminal cancer and was in the process of dying, he was unable to complete the front verandah that he had started in the fall. As soon as the weather permitted, it was Clare and his brother Glen who finished this project so that Vic could sit on it and enjoy the finished product before dying. Clare and Glen will never fully comprehend how much this act of kindness meant to Vic. That was friendship in its finest form.

Years later, I hired Clare to build a back deck for me. It was strong and well made. I noticed that Clare had great discipline and work ethics even then. He always made a point of taking breaks for 15 minutes and then returning to the project faithfully. He was very hard working and focused on the job at hand.

Clare loved to read for enjoyment. He would also research information or projects on the computer. He could always find a creative and efficient way of doing something. When we think of Clare at his best, he was a man full of energy who would tackle any project.

When resting, it appeared that he had two favourite spots outside...one in the corner area by the fish pond and the other at the 'look out' upper deck with shading by the awning he made overhead. From there he would check what was going on in the pool and the rest of the neighbourhood. This was his 'smokers retreat' it seemed. It was also the area that he and Marg would have a cool drink together and a 'couples time' in the early evening...talking, planning, and sharing together.

Remembering Clare, his good points, his weaknesses, his talents, his personality, will be very important for everyone over the next few weeks and months. Bereavement is the price we pay for loving someone.

Marg and Denise, your family and friends mourn with you. Blessings to you from our family.

Memorial Service

for the late

Clare Gilbert Ferguson

August 13, 2015

Invitation to Remember

We are here today to pay our last respects and bid a sad but fond farewell to Clare Ferguson, also to honour and pay tribute to his life.....and each in our own way to express our love and admiration for him.

Death and loss touch each of us in a personal way. While it is true that there are many similarities, each to the other, no one feels the loss exactly like you, for no one else had the same relationship, memories and stories to tell exactly like you. And so we come together to share a common loss in a personal way.

More than that sense of loss, we come together to make this occasion a celebration of his life.. and to express our thanks for having known him, laughed and played with him, loved and were loved by him.

Sometimes the poet is able to put into words the deepest of our feelings. As we gather here to remember and celebrate the life of Clare, I would share with you the words attributed to CL Schlea – words of hope and confidence – words of faith and promise.

The Fifth Season

In the spring of life,

In the flower of youth,

Everything is bright and new.

In the summer of life,

Time of growth and change,

Each day brings new dreams to pursue.

In the autumn of life,

There’s a settling down --

Contentment & sureness in what we do.

In the winter of life,

Comes peace and wisdom,

Time to relax and reminisce, too.

But with the passing of these seasons,

Life is still not done, not through,

For there is yet another season,

When each spirit is renewed.

And it is in this calm fifth season,

In this hopeful second spring,

A time of cleansing and rebirth,

A time of new awakening.

Each person’s life will come full circle,

Even as the seasons do,

To start another, different life,

Much better than the one we knew.

For the renewal of the fifth season of life which Clare has now received, we are indeed very thankful.

Clare had, as many of you know, an eclectic love of music ranging from the mellow sounds of Gordon Lightfoot singing his wonderful pop-folk style that told the distinctly Canadian stories in lyrical fashion to the hard rock and heavy metal blues band from Australia, AC DC. Either one, and so many in between, he might be caught playing a volume – considerable volume. Well, in these next moments, we get a bit of attitude from Clare in the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers hit song, I Won’t Back Down – played at a respectful volume.

Mediation

The Invasion of Europe by Allied forces had been going on for 39 days when on a Saturday in Kirkland Lake the quiet in the household of Bill and Alvina Ferguson was invaded by the sounds of a baby crying. Clare made his entry into our world becoming their third child and a baby brother for Glenn and Willa.

When he was around 6 years old, the family moved to the Sault, first living for short times on Bruce Street at Wilson and Northland before moving to 86 Trelawne. When the itch to get out in the world came, Clare scratched it and left his formal education behind at the Tech and found work at the plant as a millwright. In due course, he married and began a family. Neither the work in the plant nor the marriage would last. After a decade, the journey of Clare’s life took a turn.

That turn headed him back north to Chapleau and North Country Log Homes where for nearly 30 years, Clare gave the best of his efforts, time and talents. From their humble beginnings in 1977 to the time of his retirement ten years ago, Clare was an integral part of this company as local as your neighbour down the street with sales all over the world.

Clare had talented hands and a creative mind. Looking at the cupboards and creations in his home or in your home perhaps, are testament to that fact. His hands were never idle and produced a ton of work.

Now his feet were never idle either and that brings into play a new turn in the road of his life. He happened to be minding his own business, nursing a drink in the nicest hotel in Sault Michigan when into his life came this remarkable redhead. The music was playing, there was a dance floor that was open and he walked over and asked her to dance. [I think this is the part in the story where all the ladies in the room go, “Aw!”] And for more than 30 years, they have dance through life together.

Their partnership was perfect in many ways with their creative talents and minds matching so well. They worked hard on their home and yard with the occasional dance up and down the fairways of local golf courses or ski trails. Margaret had her own “pool boy” to care for the needs of the swimmers and the maintenance of the equipment. Was he summoned with a bell or just a snap of your fingers? Helpful and handy, he was a girl’s dream in his own unique way.

While TV did not interest Clare much, he read, to quote Denise, “Like a machine” voraciously consuming books. With the advent of his e-reader, he was in seventh heaven download. In his other hand, you would find his tablet to explore the world or answer a question or the possibilities were endless.

There was one more female in his live to whom he was totally devoted – Heidi – his miniature parrot. The wonderful creation of her very own room where she could play and he could come and read and spend time was a gift from the heart to both of them.

Clare valued time spent with his close circle of friends, especially his Bestest Friend, Larry. His retirement years allowed for a little more time together doing things.

I only had the opportunity to spend time with Clare once – at the foot of my driveway – as from his car we took a TV that I was transporting to Toronto to Denise in my car the next day. I am sure to the neighbours it might have looked like I was buying a hot TV from a guy with his hat pulled down wearing a dark hoodie in the dusk of evening. A patrol car didn’t come by for no one had phoned Crime Stoppers.

Clare was a man who taught by example that you treat all people with respect and kindness, a major dose of patience goes a long way in life and that you should never confuse the nail in your hand with the nail on your fingers when swinging a hammer. That patience I mentioned did go a long way down the road because it got exercised most teaching someone in this room to drive, but I won’t mention who.

A simple guy who rarely complained and took what life doled out in stride, he accepted the stunning news he received only weeks ago. Like everything else in life he has done, he changed his plans and he gave it his best and got the job done. The flame on the candle of his life was extinguished on Monday and the room in which we still dwell is darker now without him.

For the privilege of time spent in this life with him, we give thanks. For the wonderful treasure of memories that surround each of you in this time, we give thanks. For the love that was his legacy to each of you to carry forward in life from this place, we give thanks. Indeed, for Clare Ferguson, his life and his works, his love and time among us, the first and last words on our lips this day are thanks.

Time of Quiet Reflection

Lets now spend a few moments in silence, and we can each remember Clare in our own special way. You might like to consider how you may offer care, comfort and support to Margaret and all of Clare’s family. And those of you that do have a religious faith, when we break the silence, we will share together the Lord’s Prayer. We hope this time will bring them, and perhaps the rest of us, some form of comfort and strength in the coming days, weeks and months ahead, as we all adjust to our lives without Clare.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Amen.

Musical Selection AC DC - Highway to Hell

In the presence of death, we must continue to sing the song of life. We must be able to accept death and go from it’s presence better able to bear our burdens and to lighten the load of others. Out of our sorrows should come understanding. Through our sorrows, we join with all of those before who have had to suffer and all of those who will yet have to do so. Let us not be gripped by the fear of death. If another day be added to our lives, let us joyfully receive it, but let us not anxiously depend on our tomorrows. Though we grieve the deaths of our loved ones, we accept them and hold on to our memories as precious gifts. Let us make the best of our loved ones while they are with us, and let us not bury our love with death.

It is written:

“Remember, O man, that you are dust

and unto dust you shall return.”

So, to the ground, we commit Clare, here departed, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Life Must Go On - A Navaho Prayer

Grieve for me, for I would grieve for you.

Then brush away the sorrow and the tears

Life is not over, but begins anew,

With courage you must greet the coming years.

To live forever in the past is wrong;

It can only cause you misery and pain.

Dwell not on memories overlong,

With others you must share and care again.

Reach out and comfort those who comfort you;

Recall the years, but only for a while.

Nurse not your loneliness; but live again.

Forget not. Remember with a smile.

We Remember Him - A Common Pledge

When we are weary and in need of strength,

When we are lost and sick at heart,

We remember him.

When we have a joy we crave to share

When we have decisions

that are difficult to make

When we have achievements

that are based on his

We remember him.

At the blowing of the wind

and in the chill of winter

At the opening of the buds

and in the rebirth of spring,

We remember him.

At the blueness of the skies

and in the warmth of summer

At the rustling of the leaves

and in the beauty of autumn,

We remember him.

At the rising of the sun and at its setting,

We remember him.

As long as we live, he too will live

For he is now a part of us,

As we remember him.

Blessing

May God grant each of you always...

A sunbeam to warm you,

a moonbeam to charm you,

And a sheltering angel,

so nothing can harm you.

~Irish Blessing

FERGUSON, Clare – It is with great sadness we announce the sudden passing of Clare at the Algoma Residential Community Hospice on Monday, August 10, 2015 at the age of 71 with his special cousin Dennis Ferguson by his side. Spouse, best friend and love of his life Margaret Berlinguette for the past 33 years. Special father of Denise Wainwright (Darren) of Aylmer, Ontario, step father of Curtis Schwartz (Tammy) and Lauri of Warren, Ohio. Brother of Glenn Ferguson and Willa Leclair (Ted). Son-in-law of John Gauley (late Hazel). Son of the late William (Bill) and Alvina Ferguson. Brother-in-law of Jean Rosenbery (late Merl), Dorothy Caruso and the late John MacDonald (late Tammy). Special uncle of Stacey Ferguson (Stu). Uncle to many nieces and nephews. Bestest friend of his cousin Larry Ferguson (Helene) and very close friend of his cousin Dennis Ferguson (Lauri Ann Chalifoux). Clare worked for North Country Log Homes in Chapleau for almost 30 years and prior to that he worked at Algoma Steel as a millwright. He did some carpentry work on the side and was able to fix almost anything. For 25 years our backyard pool was known as a place for family and friends to gather, celebrate and have fun. We closed it last September and were planning on doing some travelling this summer to visit family and friends in Aylmer, North Carolina, Windsor, Warren, Ohio, Roblin, Ontario to name a few. Friends may call at the Arthur Funeral Home & Cremation Centre on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 from 6 – 8 pm. Funeral service in the chapel on Thursday, August 13, 2015 at 2 pm. Interment Greenwood Cemetery. Memorial contributions to ARCH would be appreciated. Special thanks to his Nurse Practitioner Kathie Rowe and RPN Lorraine Sauerzoph at the Group Health Centre, Dr. Beuhner and to the wonderful staff at ARCH.

* * * * * * * * * *

FERGUSON, Clare – It is with great sadness we announce the sudden passing of Clare at the Algoma Residential Community Hospice on Monday, August 10, 2015 at the age of 71 with his special cousin Dennis Ferguson by his side. Spouse, best friend and love of his life Margaret Berlinguette for the past 33 years. Special father of Denise Wainwright (Darren) of Aylmer, Ontario, step father of Curtis Schwartz (Tammy) and Lauri of Warren, Ohio. Brother of Glenn Ferguson and Willa Leclair (Ted). Son-in-law of John Gauley (late Hazel). Son of the late William (Bill) and Alvina Ferguson. Brother-in-law of Jean Rosenbery (late Merl), Dorothy Caruso and the late John MacDonald (late Tammy). Special uncle of Stacey Ferguson (Stu). Uncle to many nieces and nephews. Bestest friend of his cousin Larry Ferguson (Helene) and very close friend of his cousin Dennis Ferguson (Lauri Ann Chalifoux). Clare worked for North Country Log Homes in Chapleau for almost 30 years and prior to that he worked at Algoma Steel as a millwright. He did some carpentry work on the side and was able to fix almost anything. For 25 years our backyard pool was known as a place for family and friends to gather, celebrate and have fun. We closed it last September and were planning on doing some travelling this summer to visit family and friends in Aylmer, North Carolina, Windsor, Warren, Ohio, Roblin, Ontario to name a few. Friends may call at the Arthur Funeral Home & Cremation Centre on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 from 6 – 8 pm. Funeral service in the chapel on Thursday, August 13, 2015 at 2 pm. Interment Greenwood Cemetery. Memorial contributions to ARCH would be appreciated. Special thanks to his Nurse Practitioner Kathie Rowe and RPN Lorraine Sauerzoph at the Group Health Centre, Dr. Beuhner and to the wonderful staff at ARCH.