‘He was a special man’

FOR THE RECORD

Sunday’s story, “ ‘He was a special man’ should have said that former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson died May 6.

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NEWPORT BEACH — Loyal, moral, patriotic, compassionate, honest, honorable, always a Marine — these were just some of the ways friends, family members and peers described former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson on Saturday at his memorial service.

It was standing room only at Newport Lutheran Church, and mourners included some of the county’s heavy-hitting Republicans as well as the Ferguson’s wife, Anita Ferguson, his three sons, his daughter and nine grandchildren.

“What a beautiful celebration it was…. He was a special man,” Anita Ferguson said after the service.

Gil Ferguson died May 13 after a months-long illness. He was 84.

A striking photo of a young Gil Ferguson in his uniform stood above the pulpit Saturday, as Ferguson’s sons, son-in-law and grandson shared memories with the crowd.

“Gil was a gift from God for his family and friends, and now we have to give him back,” Gil Ferguson’s son-in-law, Kevin Priestley, said to attendees.

During his life, Ferguson earned a Purple Heart while in the Marines, raised four children, fought in three wars and spent about a decade in the state Assembly. But he wasn’t just a hero to Marines.

“He was my hero. He was my mentor,” said former aide Dean McEwen of Salt Lake City. “He was a man of integrity.”

He often told his staff that “life is not a dress rehearsal,” Evans said, and apparently he took that to heart.

He traveled extensively with his wife, went to numerous USC football games with friends and family, and enjoyed sparring with his political rivals, family members remembered.

“He was always building something or washing the car or building an engine,” Mark Ferguson said of his dad.

Mark Ferguson fondly recalled helping his dad around the house as they listened to Dolly Parton or Slim Whitman.

Despite his reputation as a hard-nosed conservative, some of his former aids, who traveled from Sacramento and Utah for the service, described him as a soft-spoken man with a kind heart.

“He was just a teddy bear to work for…. He was an honorable gem,” former legislative aid Cathy Evans said.

Evans remembered a particular bill Gil Ferguson proposed while she worked for him and when he realized during his presentation to the committee that it wouldn’t be voted for, he told the group what he really thought of them.

“After, I told him, ‘Gil, now they’re not going to vote for any other bill,’ ” Evans said after the service. “And he told me, ‘When you’re going down, you need to go down with both guns firing.’ ”

In a photo slideshow, mourners caught a glimpse of Gil Ferguson as a young man, a husband, a father and grandfather, and a politician.

Despite his work in the Assembly, Gil Ferguson once told Evans that he didn’t want to be remembered as a politician, but as a Marine. She wrote “Semper Fi” at the close of each letter during her time on staff.

And now his grandson 1st Lt. Jason Ferguson is continuing his grandfather’s legacy.

“One conversation with him will inspire you,” Jason Ferguson said after the service.