John Allen Ferguson

John Allen Ferguson

January 27, 1941 – January 5, 2025

John Allen Ferguson – better known as “Ferg” to his friends and colleagues – died peacefully on January 5, 2025, at the Benedictine Living Community in Northfield, MN, from the effects of Lewy Body Dementia.

An acclaimed organist, choral conductor, composer, and teacher, John was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, with his younger sister Carol. He began studying music at an early age, starting piano lessons around the age of six and organ lessons at ten. By twelve, he was playing regularly at his family’s church. As a teenager he worked for the Allen Organ Company, where his duties included playing Christmas music in a holiday display outside the company’s store in the Cleveland Arcade.

John graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1963, and completed a Master of Music at Kent State University in 1965. He was then promptly hired by Kent State as a faculty member, and also became the organist at Kent’s United Church of Christ. He went on to complete a DMA at the Eastman School of Music between 1967 and 1976, while teaching full time. During one of his summers studying at Eastman, he met his future wife, Ruth Hofstad, who was also an organist. The two married in August 1971. In 1976, they welcomed a son, Christopher.

In 1978, the family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where John took up the position of Minister of Music at Central Lutheran Church. In 1983, he became Professor of Organ and Church Music at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he served as cantor to the student congregation, and directed the choral ensemble, Cantorei. During his years at St. Olaf, John revitalized and expanded the college’s organ studio and church music program, toured nationally and internationally with ensembles, and oversaw major improvements to the college’s organs and worship spaces – all while transforming the lives of countless students and colleagues through his inspiration and mentorship. He was a beloved professor, well-known for his boundless energy, sense of humor, snappy attire, and dedication to his students. He and Ruth often welcomed students into their home, hosting them in shifts, to ensure that everyone was able to attend.

John remained on the St. Olaf faculty for twenty-nine years, retiring in 2012. After retiring, he went on to serve in two interim positions as organist and director of music, first at St. John’s Lutheran Church (Northfield), and later at Normandale Lutheran Church (Edina), only truly retiring from playing weekly church services in 2022.

An internationally recognized expert in the field of church music, John traveled across the country and the world presenting hymn festivals and seminars, making friends everywhere he went. He served in leadership roles in national organizations and also consultant for churches of all sizes who wanted to improve the quality of their organs and worship practices. He wrote and edited several books and hymnals, and was an acclaimed composer and arranger of sacred music, with more than one hundred titles in print. He continued to compose right up until falling ill in the summer of 2023. From 2002-2022, John also served as the Music Advisor of the radio program, Sing For Joy, bringing the gift of sacred music weekly to thousands of listeners across the United States and the wider world. His work was recognized with multiple awards, including the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians’ Raabe Prize, the F. Melius Christiansen Award for the Minnesota Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and the Distinguished Artist Award from the American Guild of Organists.

A lifelong enthusiast of vehicles of all kinds, John always owned at least one sports car, including a series of Corvettes, and amassed a large collection of historic military vehicles. In honor of his fiftieth birthday, he also took up motorcycle riding, “in order to stay young,” and continued to ride regularly into his mid-70s. In later life John discovered a love of cats, and delighted in the company of his pet felines, Maggie “Magnificat,” and later Matt “the Cat,” who his friends referred to as “Ferg’s Roommate.” During retirement, he also expanded his cooking skills, taking great delight in introducing friends to his favorite Scandinavian dessert, rice pudding. John loved his family, his friends, his students, his work, and his God.

John is survived by his son Christopher (Sarah) of Auburn, Alabama; grandchildren Lucy and Thomas; sister, Carol (Bill) Phillips, of Greenville, South Carolina; nieces and nephews; and other relatives, dear friends, and colleagues. He was preceded in death by his parents, Allen and Nancy Ferguson., and his wife, Ruth (Hofstad) Ferguson.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests considering a donation to either the John and Ruth Ferguson Endowment at St. Olaf College, or the John and Ruth Ferguson Endowment at St. John’s Lutheran Church.

A Service of Thanksgiving for John Allen Ferguson will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2025 at 11am in Boe Memorial Chapel on the campus of St. Olaf.

Obituary provided by family of the deceased.