Uncrowned Community Builders

Velma Jay McGriff Ferguson was born in Buffalo, New York on October 6, 1933. She is the eighth child of eleven children born to Ernest and Isabell McGriff. At the age of 9 years old, the president of the Lucky Four consisted of Gladys Wilson Barr, Ruth Davis McGhee, and Doris Benford, all under the age of 12. selling dinners to help the needy and this was in the early 1940s.


She attended public school 12 and graduated from Hutchinson Central High School. at the age of 18 years old, she married James (Dave) Ferguson on November 25th, 1950. She is the mother of three children, six grandchildren eight great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.


Velma was employed from 1953 to 1996 at Buffalo General Hospital, as a Supervisor in Cardiac Angiology, Department of Medicine. She retired in 1996. While working at Buffalo General, she attended Bryant & Stratton College and the University at Buffalo.


After retiring from Buffalo General, Velma worked another decade as a bus aide supervisor beginning in 1996. She was a supervisor of bus aides. She often personally worked on the routes that had students, who were considered the most disruptive. She developed special relationships with those students and modeled behavior management for the other bus aides. She was the supervisor of bus aides.


Velma became a member of The Harriet Tubman 300's Inc. in 1976. The organization was formed in 1975 to preserve the legacy of its namesake, Velma has held a 51-year tenure as the longest-tenured member as well as the oldest member of the organization. She is still an active member serving as President. In 1996, the Harriet Tubman 300's co-sponsored a historical marker at Freedom Park (formerly known as Broderick Park) in Buffalo's Black Rock district. The marker denotes the site as a former "Underground Railroad River Crossing" into Canada.


In 1979, Velma co-founded the Buffalo Chapter of the Cousins, an affiliate of the largest Black Family Ancestral Groups in America. It boasts over 3500 cousins. Velma was awarded the Black Achiever Award in 1995.


Velma has always been active from childhood in her AME Zion Church, St. Luke, and is the oldest member of Durham Memorial AME Zion. goes by many names and titles to many people other than family. The listening mother of all who needs her activist in the community involving health issues and all needed values of humanity. She can be counted on to get involved in listening to young people for their opinions on their future. Patience, she believes, is a virtue to be taught. "I am finding out this is a generation that is interested in the dash!!! Not realizing it is life's journey."


She is grateful to be a two-time cancer survivor and enjoying life.
---------

.