Ferguson Jenkins Sr.

Ferguson "Fergie" Jenkins Sr. (1909 – 31 October 1996) was a Canadian baseball player. He began his baseball career playing on teams in Detroit before Earl ‘Flat’ Chase convinced him he should join the Chatham Coloured All-Stars in Chatham, Ontario. Jenkins was an outfielder and typically first in the batting order for the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, the first all-Black baseball team to win an Ontario Amateur Baseball Association Championship.[1] It was stated by teammate Kingsley Terrell, that Fergie was a great outfielder and he would see him catch balls that you would think he would not even be close to catching.[2]

Ferguson Jenkins Sr., c 1935

Jenkins was born in Windsor, Ontario, to Joseph Jenkins and Gertrude Holmes, both of whom immigrated from Barbados.[2] Jenkins married Delores Jackson on 15 September 1942 and they had one child, Ferguson "Fergie" Jenkins Jr. Their son inherited his father’s love of baseball as he went on to play in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, and Boston Red Sox, from 1965 through 1983, and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Jenkins and his wife would often attend their son’s games, though Dolores had gone blind, she would follow along via the radio.[2]

Jenkins worked as a cook at Great Lakes Freighters and was later a chef at the William Pitt Hotel in Chatham[2]. In addition, he worked as a chef and chauffeur for the Houston family in Chatham.[2] He was a member of Branch 628 of the Royal Canadian Legion.

References
  1. "A Brief Team History · Breaking the Colour Barrier". cdigs.uwindsor.ca.
  2. "Fergie Jenkins Sr. · Breaking the Colour Barrier". cdigs.uwindsor.ca.
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