James Joseph "Joe" Ferguson, 39 years old, Flight 77
James Joseph "Joe" Ferguson was born on July 23, 1962 and lived on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. He grew up in Durant, MS, and most commonly went by his middle name's nickname, Joe. He had a brother, Randy. Joe attended and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and spent time in graduate school at Ohio University, but was lured away by an internship offer at National Geographic in Washington. He took the internship, later accepted a permanent position, and worked with National Geographic for 14 years. He had always been very passionate about the subject of geography and especially enjoyed helping children learn about it. Whenever he bought Christmas presents for his brother's children, he would always get them geography books or puzzles of the United States instead of toys. Joe made many close friends throughout his life, but he was especially close to his mother, Barbara Harrell. Barbara recalled her son and their relationship, saying, "He and I were very, very good friends. Work and traveling was his life, and his family. Every chance he got, he came home just to get some R&R, if nothing else. He and his dog would come." Friends recalled that Joe loved cooking, clothes, his dog Winston, music, and dancing. His friend, David Merlin Duke, said, "When Joe got up in the morning, first thing he'd do was blast the music. He'd dance while he got dressed, and I mean, he dressed. Joe didn't have clothes, he had 'outfits'." In 2001, Joe worked as the director of the National Geographic Society's Geography Education Outreach Program. He developed educational programs for schools and took children on field trips. This is what led him to be a passenger on Flight 77.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Joe had asked his mother to give him a wake-up call, as he usually did when he had morning flights. She did, and he told her, "I'll call you when I get to California. Have a good day." A few hours later, Joe boarded United Airlines Flight 77 to Los Angeles with three eleven-year-old students, Bernard Brown, Rodney Dickens, and Asia Cottom, and three teacher chaperones, Sara Clark, Hilda Taylor, and James Debeuneure, for a field trip to attend the National Geographic conference in California. A good friend and co-worker of Joe's, Ann Judge, was also traveling to the conference Unfortunately, they never made it there, as Flight 77 was the third plane to be targeted and hijacked on September 11th, ultimately crashing into the Pentagon. No one on board the flight survived, including Joe, his friend, Ann, the teachers, or the young students. Though their lives were sadly taken on September 11th, they'll never be forgotten. Joe will be forever loved and remembered for his dedication, love, accomplishments, and memories made while he was here.
James Joseph "Joe" Ferguson was born on July 23, 1962 and lived on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. He grew up in Durant, MS, and most commonly went by his middle name's nickname, Joe. He had a brother, Randy. Joe attended and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and spent time in graduate school at Ohio University, but was lured away by an internship offer at National Geographic in Washington. He took the internship, later accepted a permanent position, and worked with National Geographic for 14 years. He had always been very passionate about the subject of geography and especially enjoyed helping children learn about it. Whenever he bought Christmas presents for his brother's children, he would always get them geography books or puzzles of the United States instead of toys. Joe made many close friends throughout his life, but he was especially close to his mother, Barbara Harrell. Barbara recalled her son and their relationship, saying, "He and I were very, very good friends. Work and traveling was his life, and his family. Every chance he got, he came home just to get some R&R, if nothing else. He and his dog would come." Friends recalled that Joe loved cooking, clothes, his dog Winston, music, and dancing. His friend, David Merlin Duke, said, "When Joe got up in the morning, first thing he'd do was blast the music. He'd dance while he got dressed, and I mean, he dressed. Joe didn't have clothes, he had 'outfits'." In 2001, Joe worked as the director of the National Geographic Society's Geography Education Outreach Program. He developed educational programs for schools and took children on field trips. This is what led him to be a passenger on Flight 77.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Joe had asked his mother to give him a wake-up call, as he usually did when he had morning flights. She did, and he told her, "I'll call you when I get to California. Have a good day." A few hours later, Joe boarded United Airlines Flight 77 to Los Angeles with three eleven-year-old students, Bernard Brown, Rodney Dickens, and Asia Cottom, and three teacher chaperones, Sara Clark, Hilda Taylor, and James Debeuneure, for a field trip to attend the National Geographic conference in California. A good friend and co-worker of Joe's, Ann Judge, was also traveling to the conference Unfortunately, they never made it there, as Flight 77 was the third plane to be targeted and hijacked on September 11th, ultimately crashing into the Pentagon. No one on board the flight survived, including Joe, his friend, Ann, the teachers, or the young students. Though their lives were sadly taken on September 11th, they'll never be forgotten. Joe will be forever loved and remembered for his dedication, love, accomplishments, and memories made while he was here.
James Joseph "Joe" Ferguson, 39 years old, Flight 77
James Joseph "Joe" Ferguson was born on July 23, 1962 and lived on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. He grew up in Durant, MS, and most commonly went by his middle name's nickname, Joe. He had a brother, Randy. Joe attended and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and spent time in graduate school at Ohio University, but was lured away by an internship offer at National Geographic in Washington. He took the internship, later accepted a permanent position, and worked with National Geographic for 14 years. He had always been very passionate about the subject of geography and especially enjoyed helping children learn about it. Whenever he bought Christmas presents for his brother's children, he would always get them geography books or puzzles of the United States instead of toys. Joe made many close friends throughout his life, but he was especially close to his mother, Barbara Harrell. Barbara recalled her son and their relationship, saying, "He and I were very, very good friends. Work and traveling was his life, and his family. Every chance he got, he came home just to get some R&R, if nothing else. He and his dog would come." Friends recalled that Joe loved cooking, clothes, his dog Winston, music, and dancing. His friend, David Merlin Duke, said, "When Joe got up in the morning, first thing he'd do was blast the music. He'd dance while he got dressed, and I mean, he dressed. Joe didn't have clothes, he had 'outfits'." In 2001, Joe worked as the director of the National Geographic Society's Geography Education Outreach Program. He developed educational programs for schools and took children on field trips. This is what led him to be a passenger on Flight 77.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Joe had asked his mother to give him a wake-up call, as he usually did when he had morning flights. She did, and he told her, "I'll call you when I get to California. Have a good day." A few hours later, Joe boarded United Airlines Flight 77 to Los Angeles with three eleven-year-old students, Bernard Brown, Rodney Dickens, and Asia Cottom, and three teacher chaperones, Sara Clark, Hilda Taylor, and James Debeuneure, for a field trip to attend the National Geographic conference in California. A good friend and co-worker of Joe's, Ann Judge, was also traveling to the conference Unfortunately, they never made it there, as Flight 77 was the third plane to be targeted and hijacked on September 11th, ultimately crashing into the Pentagon. No one on board the flight survived, including Joe, his friend, Ann, the teachers, or the young students. Though their lives were sadly taken on September 11th, they'll never be forgotten. Joe will be forever loved and remembered for his dedication, love, accomplishments, and memories made while he was here.
James Joseph "Joe" Ferguson was born on July 23, 1962 and lived on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. He grew up in Durant, MS, and most commonly went by his middle name's nickname, Joe. He had a brother, Randy. Joe attended and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and spent time in graduate school at Ohio University, but was lured away by an internship offer at National Geographic in Washington. He took the internship, later accepted a permanent position, and worked with National Geographic for 14 years. He had always been very passionate about the subject of geography and especially enjoyed helping children learn about it. Whenever he bought Christmas presents for his brother's children, he would always get them geography books or puzzles of the United States instead of toys. Joe made many close friends throughout his life, but he was especially close to his mother, Barbara Harrell. Barbara recalled her son and their relationship, saying, "He and I were very, very good friends. Work and traveling was his life, and his family. Every chance he got, he came home just to get some R&R, if nothing else. He and his dog would come." Friends recalled that Joe loved cooking, clothes, his dog Winston, music, and dancing. His friend, David Merlin Duke, said, "When Joe got up in the morning, first thing he'd do was blast the music. He'd dance while he got dressed, and I mean, he dressed. Joe didn't have clothes, he had 'outfits'." In 2001, Joe worked as the director of the National Geographic Society's Geography Education Outreach Program. He developed educational programs for schools and took children on field trips. This is what led him to be a passenger on Flight 77.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Joe had asked his mother to give him a wake-up call, as he usually did when he had morning flights. She did, and he told her, "I'll call you when I get to California. Have a good day." A few hours later, Joe boarded United Airlines Flight 77 to Los Angeles with three eleven-year-old students, Bernard Brown, Rodney Dickens, and Asia Cottom, and three teacher chaperones, Sara Clark, Hilda Taylor, and James Debeuneure, for a field trip to attend the National Geographic conference in California. A good friend and co-worker of Joe's, Ann Judge, was also traveling to the conference Unfortunately, they never made it there, as Flight 77 was the third plane to be targeted and hijacked on September 11th, ultimately crashing into the Pentagon. No one on board the flight survived, including Joe, his friend, Ann, the teachers, or the young students. Though their lives were sadly taken on September 11th, they'll never be forgotten. Joe will be forever loved and remembered for his dedication, love, accomplishments, and memories made while he was here.
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