Don Ferguson was married to Miriam Louise Harrison, the daughter of Earl Joseph Harrison and Frances Willard Moyers. They had nine children: Sheila Frances Gorsuch, Hope Darlene Jennett, Eileen Faith Roberts, Joy Lynn Conwell, Paulette Elaine Ferguson, Joseph E Ferguson, Karen Sue Ferguson, Ann Louise Ferguson, and Wayde Eugene Ferguson.
Don was born in Mahaska County, Iowa. He and Miriam lived for a time in Jefferson County and then settled in Mediapolis. They were divorced in 1963, and Don later lived with a brother and sister on a farm in Henry County, Iowa. He died in 1983 of cardiac arrest due to acute myocardial infarction.