Christopher Robin Ferguson

On April 21, 2023, C. Robin Ferguson, age 82, passed away peacefully at his home in Port Saint Lucie, Florida after a two-and-half year courageous battle with cancer. Robin was born in Darwen, England on July 28, 1940 to Laura and George Ferguson. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Bonnyrigg, Scotland where he met the love of his life, Phyllis. Robin attended school at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh. He began his career with the National Coal Board as a mining trainee at Whitehill Colliery in Scotland in 1956. In 1962, Robin took the Mining Examinations of the City and Guilds and scored the highest marks of anyone in Great Britain. This allowed him to enter a program to study to become a Charted Mining Engineer. In 1965, he married Phyllis and they welcomed their first child, Alan, in 1966 and their daughter, Susan, in 1970. He also completed a Management Engineering Course and became Undermanager at Easton and Dalkieth Collieries. In 1972, Robin left the National Coal Board to become a Development Engineer for Anderson Mavor, Ltd., the leader in the manufacturing of longwall mining equipment to the world at the time. He was appointed Scottish District Manager in 1974. In 1977, Robin and his family were given the opportunity to move to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he became the Eastern Operations Manager for Anderson Strathclyde, an American subsidiary of Anderson Mavor. In 1980, he was promoted to General Sales Manager with responsibility for sales and service for the whole of the United States. Robin later became Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Anderson Mavor, USA. With a main office in Evans City, Pennsylvania, Robin traveled to and visited coal mines in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Alabama, Illinois, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. He also had the opportunity to travel the world with his jobs, visiting coal mines in Canada, Poland, South Africa and Australia. Towards the end of his career in the coal mining industry, he worked and lived in Morgantown, West Virginia and in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In 1973, Robin was elected a member of the Institute of Mining Engineers, a Royal Charted organization founded in 1889. In 1986, he was elected a fellow of the Institute. After moving to the United States, he was accepted as a Member of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers.

Upon his retirement, he returned to Pittsburgh before moving south to warmer weather in Kennesaw, Georgia and Port Saint Lucie, Florida. In his retirement, he created large garden railroad displays in two homes and spent the last two years of his life building smaller “n” gauge model railway displays. Shortly after arriving in the United States, Robin took his family to Disney World and continued to visit Disney World on a regular basis throughout his life, eventually becoming an annual pass holder after moving to Florida. Robin and Phyllis often made the 2-hour drive from their home in Florida to spend the day at Disney. More than anything else, he loved spending time with his three grandchildren, Robby and Ryan Meredith and Skye Ferguson.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Phyllis; his children, Alan (Susan) Ferguson of Maryville, Tennessee, and Susan (Rob) Meredith of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; his 3 grandchildren; his niece Lucy (Jason) Henderson of Blackpool, England; his sister-in-law Pamela (John) Coutts and his niece Nicola (Jamie) Toucher and nephew Donald Coutts all of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is preceded in his death by his parents, George and Laura Ferguson of Cleveleys, England and his brother, John Ferguson, of Blackpool, England. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that contributions be sent to the American Cancer Society.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.aycocktradition.com for the Ferguson family.