Jay Ferguson Obituary (1956

Jay F. Ferguson, "Fergi", age 61 of Caldwell, ID passed away at home on Friday, August 25, 2017. Jay was born June 2, 1956 in Idaho Falls, ID to Gerald & Helen Ferguson. He attended grade school and middle school in Bonneville County. He later graduated from Idaho Falls High School in 1974. As a young boy, Jay enjoyed being outside, and all the activities that go with it. He truly loved camping, hunting, fishing, boating, snowmobiling, skiing & lots of family camp-outs throughout his life. He loved fast cars, muscle cars, classic cars and women. He used to say, "I just love women because they are so different from me". In fact, Jay was the guy who took 5 girls to the Senior Prom because he couldn't decide which one to take, or they didn't have suitable dates. All of his life he had great respect, love and appreciation for women. When he was 16, he purchased a brand new 1972 Cuda, the muscle car of muscle cars. This car made him the king of the drag! He loved cruising 1st street in Idaho Falls meeting up with friends and planning parties. Racing motorcycles, and building and restoring cars were always a major part of Jay's life. Jay particularly enjoyed restoring muscle cars. He even had the opportunity to race on the Utah Salt Flats. His motorcycle racing was paused when he started a family, because he felt it was just too risky. Jay had some very interesting jobs through the years. In High School, he worked at Idahoan Fresh Pack at night. He went to school during the day, partied until the time to go to work, and then would do it all over again. After graduating from Idaho Falls High School in 1974, he briefly attended a trade school to learn how to work on race cars, but he soon discovered he knew more than the teacher. Jay could figure out and fix any problem when it came to engines. Jay was a bit of an adrenaline junkie; he would try anything, the more dangerous, the better! He loved riding motorcycles; he enjoyed this activity throughout his entire life. Jay was also very spontaneous. Once he packed up his motorcycle and with only $100 in his pocket rode his way across South America! He worked several odd jobs along the way to keep himself afloat, fed, and was even able to take some babes out on dates. Brazil was his favorite stop during this 6-month journey. Jay then began working for his grandfather, at Ray Ferguson & Sons, doing excavation. He could dig a square, accurate basement in no time flat. He was able to operate any piece of heavy equipment by the time he was in his late 20's. Jay was also a logger... not only could he run up and down the mountain faster than the rest, he was really good at nearly cutting off his leg with a chain saw! But like the knight from Monty Python's Holy Grail, he would hop off and yell, "It's only a flesh wound!" Later, he went to work for General Contractors. He had the gift of being able to read architectural drawings and see them in a 3 dimensional form. He ran projects from coast to coast. In Cape Cod, Maine, he worked in a National Park building a walkway that went behind a waterfall for guests to experience its beauty. On this project, he was one of the first to use extreme water pressure for cutting granite onsite. Throughout his career, Jay managed many huge commercial and government projects. He was in charge of the remodel of the Boise Federal Building in 1994. He was the "stud duck" over building the Navy's Top Gun facility in Fallon, NV and won many awards for it. Jay won awards for building the Cottonwood Grill on 9th & River St. in Boise, ID. He built a 10,000 sq. ft. clean room for the 1st retractable hypodermic needle factory in FL. Jay was involved in building a large portion of Sun Valley, Idaho through the years. He built or worked on all of the Ski Lodges, was in charge of the civil engineering on the Sun Valley Golf Course Club House and Golf Course and Back Pay Way. He built the first set of elite condos for the White Clouds Sub-division across the street from the Golf Course and this too included civil engineering. One of his last projects was the remodel of the Building of Education at the University of Idaho, Moscow. He won 2nd place for all of the government buildings constructed during 2016. Jay was a man of many talents. He also loved canning season and was "famous" for his dill pickles! He canned everything from jams, to fruit, salsa, stews, sauces, meats, soups, juices...you name it; he'd can it! On October 2, 1981, Jay married Julie Holverson. From that union, 5 children were born: Ryan Jay, Corey James, Jesse James, Jason Craig & Jenna Nicole. Jay was able to resume his motorcycle racing once the kids were older. He participated in several endurance racing events alongside his boys. Julie and Jay later divorced in February 2, 1998. Jay remarried on February 8, 2003 to LeAnn Scott. Jay and LeAnn shared an interesting love story as they had actually met and dated during their teenage years. Jay and LeAnn dated off and on from ages 13-19. Jay had asked LeAnn to marry him 4 times when they were 18, but she felt he wasn't ready to be married yet. They remained friends throughout their adult life; even when both went on to marry other people. Once Jay heard about LeAnn's divorce, he showed up on LeAnn's doorstep. LeAnn had 4 children from her previous relationship. One of the children answered the door when Jay arrived and he said, "I'm here to marry your mother". Once Jay and LeAnn were reunited, they joined their two families. They were sealed for time and all eternity in the LDS temple on July 10, 2010. Jay, LeAnn and children lived a very happy life together as a family. They were able to live in the country with horses and motorcycles just as they had always dreamed about. They were able to take trips together and enjoy their 9 children. Everything Jay would do in life, he would be "all in". Whether that meant caring and providing for his family or giving his all to a project. He lived with great purpose and enthusiasm. He is survived by his wife of 15 years, LeAnn Scott Ferguson; children Ryan (Nicole) Ferguson, Corey (Wendy) Ferguson, Mandi Sheeter, Jesse (Courtney) Ferguson, Ashley Scott, Jason Ferguson, Adam (Ashley) Creedy, Jenna (Brennan) Littlefield and Tori Scott; parents, Gerald and Helen Ferguson; sister, Debbie (Rod) Wagner. He is preceded in death by brothers, Jerry, Jim, Dan & John Ferguson. Services will be held Friday, Sept. 1, 2017 at the LDS chapel at 215 S. Third Ave., Marsing, ID. The family will be receiving guests from 11:30am - 1:45pm with services at 2:00pm. A luncheon will immediately follow the program.