John McCallum Ferguson (13 Oct 1927 - 5 Jun 2024)

In remembrance of a wonderful uncle and a fine , caring and gentle man. you'll be missed.

I had the privilege and pleasure of knowing John as Director of the LWRA when I worked for Hertfordshire County Council. He was a consummate professional and a gentleman. I was grateful for his help in various ways. I knew that in retirement he pursued his passion for art but I did not know that he was a devotee of yoga, as I am. What an inspiration!

John Ferguson was an enormously important figure in the pioneering of environmental improvements in the handling of wastes in London in his senior positions in the Public Health Engineering Department of the former Greater London Council.  Under his leadership, the capture of landfill gas to provide energy was introduced along with a strategy for the complete containerisation of wastes for interchangeable transport by road, rail and river.  The strategy incorporated a variety of state-of-the-art transfer stations located around Greater London.  There was also the transformation of the old civic amenity sites into modern waste handling and recycling facilities and the gradual transformation away from the reliance on landfill.  When the abolition of the GLC became inevitable, John realised the importance of keeping together the centre of expertise that had been developed in the Public Health Engineering Department and he led the negotiations with government to pass the necessary legislation to introduce the Waste Regulation Authorities.  As Director designate of the newly formed London Waste Regulation Authority, he fought tooth and nail to secure positions for all his former staff that had not otherwise been accommodated in other local authority positions.  There are many of us, at the time with young families and mortgages, who will forever be grateful for the way in which he safeguarded our future careers.

I had the very great pleasure of knowing John through the ISWA conferences and CIWM and seeing him every year somewhere in the world. I will always remember on my first visit to the CIWM event in UK he insisted on taki ing me for dinner and treating me to try my first Diver Sole which being from Australia I had never heard of. John was a true gentleman.

I had the very great pleasure of knowing John through the ISWA conferences and CIWM and seeing him every year somewhere in the world. I will always remember on my first visit to the CIWM event in UK he insisted on taki ing me for dinner and treating me to try my first Diver Sole which being from Australia I had never heard of. John was a true gentleman.

John will always be an inspiration. I was never lucky enough to meet him in person, only virtually, via zoom Yoga classes, but his joyful spirit, calm nature and sense of fun came through the screen every time.
He'll be greatly missed.

I only knew John in the later period of his life through attending the same yoga class. He was such a lovely person and an example to us all. And slowly, as we all chatted, more details about the many of the things he had been involved in during his life became apparent and in particular his passion for art. We will all treasure our memories of him.

John attended Iyengar Yoga classes for over 40 years. I am honoured to have had John in my classes in Clerkenwell for a couple of years before the pandemic. Then, during the pandemic John swiftly switched to online, as we all did, and he attended twice weekly. I enjoyed chatting before the start of the classes with John. He supported and encouraged me when I had began to study again, and inspired me, with his positive and open approach. He was never constrained by his age and was always gracious and stylish. I miss his presence in the class and I am grateful to have known him. Namaste John 🙏🏼

John attended Iyengar Yoga classes for over 40 years. I am honoured to have had John in my classes in Clerkenwell for a couple of years before the pandemic. Then, during the pandemic John swiftly switched to online, as we all did, and he attended twice weekly. I enjoyed chatting before the start of the classes with John. He supported and encouraged me when I had began to study again, and inspired me, with his positive and open approach. He was never constrained by his age and was always gracious and stylish. I miss his presence in the class and I am grateful to have known him. Namaste John 🙏🏼

Always the gentleman, professional in all that you did and an inspiration to so many. May you now rest in peace.

In memory of John. Such a kind and caring gentleman. Always took a great interest in my studies and career.

We will always remember John with love. We first knew John in 1980s when he was Jeff's boss at the GLC and then LWRA, and became friends through CIWM and ISWA events. John and Jeff served on several CIWM and ISWA Committees together and on the CIWM London and Southern Counties until now! John and Stephanie went to art galleries and exhibitions together and occasionally the theatre and concerts and were in regular weekly contact through correspondence and phone calls. We all enjoyed, with Vanessa, regular get-togethers at John's favourite Viennese restaurant, last meeting just a week or two ago. John was always cheerful and thankful for what was good in his life and spoke with great affection for his friends and family. He was thoughtful and kind and will be greatly missed.