Lloyd Ferguson

Lloyd Ferguson, age 84, passed away peacefully on August 26, 2024, surrounded by family in Evanston, IL. He is survived by his cherished wife of 57 years, Martha Kemper, loving children Bill and Diane, and beloved grandchildren Michael and Charlotte and brother Jack (Sue) Ferguson. He was preceded in death by parents Bill and Allene, sister Lynne Muskoff, brother-in-law John Muskoff, and brother-in-law John W. Kemper. Born on July 29, 1940, Lloyd grew up in Hamilton, OH, the proudest son the town had ever known. A graduate of Hamilton High School, Lloyd paid his way to Ohio Wesleyan University with money made working at his father’s car wash. Once at OWU, his mind was filled with exciting new ideas that mesmerized and catapulted him to a career in business where he would start, run, and sell many successful companies in various business sectors. He also fell in with dozens of lifelong friends when he pledged to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity. His SAE brothers would engender a passion for Ohio Wesleyan that he would keep stoked long after his college years. He was a tireless champion of the small liberal arts college all his life, serving on boards and working year-round to help raise money for his beloved alma mater.

Following graduation in 1962, he moved to Cleveland, OH, where he and a bunch of other like-minded college grads bought “The Big House”, in Fairview Park. There, the men would explore the worlds of post-graduate life, work, motorcycles, touch-tackle football, and the adult-beverage-related arts. During that time he met the love of his life and wife of 57 years, the glamorous Rocky River debutante Martha Kemper. While some say the couple met on a gondola in Venice, the probable and true story is that they met at Pat Joyce’s Tavern on East 9th Street in Cleveland. Martha and Lloyd married February 11, 1967, and had their son Bill in 1968. The family moved to Princeton, NJ, in 1970, where daughter Diane was born and Lloyd commuted to New York City as the East Coast sales rep for Penton Publishing. In 1973, he and two partners created Delta Communications with the purchase of Packaging Digest Magazine from Penton.

Delta Communications, headquartered in Chicago, IL, would grow to publish dozens of trade magazines covering industries from food packaging and HVAC to furniture design and automation. In its heyday, Delta occupied two floors in Chicago’s historic Wrigley Building, which Lloyd loved deeply, and not just because it was steps away from his favorite lunchtime watering hole, the legendary Riccardo’s. Lloyd and his partners sold Delta in 1986, and Lloyd left the company in 1989 to search for something else to do with his life.

He found that something else in a small pressure-sensitive label and packaging company in Northbrook, IL, which he acquired with his Delta partner Jack Daniels (yes, that was his real name). The company, creatively called “The Label and Packaging Company”, would become Lloyd’s next challenge. He and his team of young sales reps and plant employees grew the company over a decade, increasing sales and volume yearly and eventually moving to a large facility shortly after taking over. Eventually, however, the siren call of the publishing business would prove impossible to resist. In 1993, Lloyd teamed up with Joe Angel and Chuck Winnicky, former Delta Communications colleagues, to form Summit Media Group (now PMMI) with its flagship magazine Packaging World. Lloyd and his team would once again build a company that would grow steadily over the next twenty years. This time his home was the IBM building, and Lloyd was happy to be back in downtown Chicago. He was such a fixture at The Palm restaurant that his cartoon caricature was hung on the wall. And once Keefer’s restaurant opened nearby, Lloyd found yet another welcoming lunchtime home. Beyond those legendary business lunches, Lloyd was a longtime member of the American Business Press, and was inducted into the Packaging and Processing Hall of Fame in 2001. Lloyd stayed with Summit until 2013, after a stroke slowed him down, but only a little bit.

Lloyd had a lifetime passion for golf, which he indulged in most frequently at Indian Hill Club in Winnetka, IL. He played almost every weekend with friends he cherished. They, in turn, cherished his humor. Caddies appreciated his kindness and advice, which he dispensed with a smile and a serious intellect honed by a lifetime of effort and ingenuity. He was also fortunate to travel the world and play the game he adored. He loved the Irish courses especially and always said he preferred them to Scotland’s. He would give back to the game he loved by being a staunch and generous advocate of the Evans Scholars Foundation.

In line with his lifelong desire to mentor in business, Lloyd also loved coaching. He coached son Bill’s football teams and daughter Diane’s softball teams, and had great success in both. His philosophy was simple: make sure your weaker players are better than the other team’s weaker players. If you were a star player on one of Lloyd’s teams, he appreciated you but spent most of his time working with kids who needed more help. It would be a mistake to say his motivation came solely from a desire to win. He truly enjoyed working with kids and helping them improve.

Lloyd traveled the globe with family and friends, and especially treasured his time in Hilton Head, SC, where he and Martha owned a condo overlooking the 18th green of Harbor Town Golf Links. For over twenty years he hosted yearly golf trips with friends from his “Big House” days. And while they were there for golf, they also packed a year’s worth of living into each five-day long weekend. Eventually Lloyd and Martha would make Naples, FL their winter home. There he would continue to indulge in his love of golf and fishing. And he would never miss an opportunity to take his grandkids to Jungle Larry’s (Naples Zoo).

However, to get a complete picture of Lloyd Ferguson, one must understand that he was one of the funniest people to ever walk the earth. A joke teller par excellence, Lloyd would have you laughing before he ever got to the punchline. A true performer and raconteur, Lloyd had the intellect to turn a phrase, nail an accent, and act out a part so effortlessly that people were left howling. Most people who ever met Lloyd would tell you he was the funniest person they knew. He and Martha had friends in all places in every part of the country, from Chicago and Cleveland to Princeton and Naples, and they were popular dinner partners whenever they hit town.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, September 20, 2024, at Messiah Lutheran Church, 21485 Lorain Rd, Fairview Park, OH, at 10:30am. A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, September 27, 2024, at Michigan Shores Club, 911 Michigan Ave, Wilmette, IL, at 4pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial contribution to one of the following: The Helen West Kemper Endowed Scholarship/Ohio Wesleyan University, by mail at 61 S. Sandusky Street, Delaware, OH 43015 or online at owu.edu/alumni; the Evans Scholars Foundation (wgaesf.org); or the charity of your choice.