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Chester H. Ferguson

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Chester H. Ferguson
Chester H. Ferguson was a firm believer in the importance of education. In a speech at the Annual Law Reunion he said, “History shows that governments change, decay and fail, but the processes of learning go on forever.”

Before attending the University of Florida College of Law, Ferguson attended the University of Alabama and Mercer University. He was involved in Phi Delta Theta, Phi Delta Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Florida Blue Key and Scabbard and Blade while attending UF.

Ferguson was not only an involved student; he also exhibited excellent legal talents. During the depression, Ferguson began practicing law in Tampa. He became a partner at the law firm that was later known as MacFarlane, Ferguson, Allison & Kelly, where he started out earning just $15 a week.

Ferguson began handling the legal matters for the Lykes family businesses, and then married Louis Lykes in 1939. Under his direction, The Lykes Bros. corporation, with interests in shipping, cattle, packing and processing, banking, real estate and energy, prospered. He eventually became the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the company. He was also the chairman and chief executive officer of First Florida Banks Inc. and was an officer or director for numerous other major corporations.

Ferguson believed a lawyer must always be at the forefront of the action in community life. He did just that by being a leading citizen in Tampa, where he is credited with paving the way for much of the city’s growth that included downtown revitalization and the positioning of Tampa as a major shipping and financial center.

Ferguson was an initial member and principal organizer of the State University System Board of Regents, where he served for 14 years, including three as chairman. He was also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Probate Counsel. He was awarded the UF Law Center Trustees’ Award for his outstanding contributions to the legal profession and to his alma mater in 1982. He also received the Wallace Award from the American Scottish Foundation, recognizing his contributions to the wellbeing of this country.

Along with his leadership to education, Ferguson contributed financially as well. He established the Chester H. Ferguson Scholarship for outstanding entering freshman to the College of Law, and donated to the Law Center Building Campaign.

Ferguson is survived by his wife, Louise; his children, Stella Thayer and Howell Ferguson; four grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.

-Ashley Pinder

Published: June 27th, 2014

Category: Alumni

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The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

 

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

 

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.