Luke William Ferguson

"Kindness is the most tender and effective form of leaving a memory inside people's hearts."
- Dodinsky


Kindness is something everyone longs for, but most people don't freely give to others, especially if they don't know them. It can be as valuable as gold or diamonds, but in almost every case, it is free to give. However, the vast majority of people don't want to go out of their way to give kindness, especially when it won't be given back in return. Only people with hearts of gold and a true spirit of kindness will lend a helping hand without expecting praise; will provide a listening ear to problems and hardships without venting of their own; will trek through hail, heat, ice, and more to be there for others and not ask for anything in return. These are the people that give us hope that there is still good within the world we live in today. Luke William Ferguson was a man marked with true kindness, and so many were touched by his helpful hand and wonderful spirit.

Luke's life of kindness began on a warm August day in 1994. On August 9th, Larry and Cynthia Ferguson welcomed their sweet, little boy at 1:28 In the afternoon at Mesquite Community Hospital. Not only were his parents excited about their new son, but his older sister, Jessica, and his older brother, Daniel, were also excited to meet their little brother. From the very beginning, people could tell there was something wonderful and unique about the baby of the family. As a little boy, Luke's kindness and loving heart lit up the room whether it was him showing adoration for his parents (like him singing out loud in public "I love Mommy, and Mommy loves me!" while his siblings walked 10 feet behind in embarrassment) or him finding a way to help anyone he met. He had a charming little smile, an infectious laugh, and a sense of humor that was guaranteed to make you smile. Luke's family was always proud of Luke, but they were ecstatic when he was baptized at Rowlett Bible Fellowship Church when he was a young boy. He spent many years attending Rowlett Bible Fellowship Church and lived his life for the Lord. Even as a young child, Luke loved to have fun with his family and friends. As a little brother, he always had things to do with his older siblings. Often, he would play video games with his brother Daniel. He would sit next to Daniel as the two boys pressed the keys of their game controllers and talked about who was winning. Luke enjoyed playing those games with his brother, even when he figured out much later that Daniel never plugged in his controller, and his Player 2 character was always a bot. As he got older, Luke found a new outlet of fun in the Cub Scouts. He loved being outdoors and active. Through Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and later in Venturing, Luke found his peace and joy in hiking, camping, and witnessing the beauties of the nature around him. Through the Scouts, Luke acquired his new name of "Lukealot" and found many friends, including his friend of 13 years, Aaron. Luke gained even more friends through his gaming group, his fencing club, and his work at Napa Auto Parts. As Robert Kraft, a sports team owner, stated, "Life is about collecting good people around you." Luke had many, many good people his life through his family and friends. Each person who knew Luke found their lives more fulfilled and complete through his joy and kindness.

Although family and friends were important in Luke's life, there were many other things that he enjoyed doing. One major part of Luke's life was his love for being outdoors. Through Boy Scouts and even outside of the Boy Scouts, Luke went on hundreds of campouts and hikes. From hiking around the majesty of the Grand Canyon to squeezing into the cool caverns of Carlsbad Caverns, Luke witnessed the wonders of nature. One of Luke's favorite travels included his trip the United Kingdom with his good friend, Harrison. There adventure took them first to England, then to Scotland, with the quest ending in Scotland before they caught their flight home in England. In Scotland, Luke had the opportunity to hike through the Scottish Highlands. While hiking, he spent his time not only appreciating the beauty around him but also enjoying the company of his friend. They talked together, laughed together, and sometimes even irritated each other; but ultimately they loved each other. One day, Luke and Harrison took a special hike up a mountain in the Highlands. Luke that day dressed in a comfortable short-sleeved shirt and shorts for the long hike. As they continued closer to the summit, the friends noticed the air became crisper, cooler, and like new. The lush green grass became more sparse, the heather bushes dwindled, and the landscape below them spread out like a tapestry of color and beauty. Luke was surprised as his elevation grew and the temperature continued to drop. They continued to hike upward until pure white snow surrounded them. With the refreshing chill surrounding him, Luke marveled at the drastic change from the bottom of the mountain to the summit and the journey to get there. However, like any trip to a mountain top, you can't stay up there forever. As they descended the mountain, Luke reflected on how amazing the world and weather can change depending upon your elevation. Climbing the mountain with Harrison was the highlight of Luke's trip. Luke took many other adventures that spanned stalling behind the wheel of the car as he and friends tried to get away after witnessing a possible robbery, jokingly threatening to leave a friend in Juarez who kept singing Shirley Temple songs, singing through Hamilton three times with a friend while driving through the night, getting stuck in a hail storm while camping, and clearing out a store of all their red sweaters for a rehearsal dinner. Luke made many memories throughout his adventures, but his best adventures involved those he loved-his family and friends.

When Luke wasn't seeking adventure out in the world, he participated in and created his own quests through gaming. Luke took his childhood love of gaming and helped form a small gaming group who dubbed themselves, "The Sensual Lumberjacks" after a boat they saw in one of their games. This small group met online often to try out new games, trade gaming tips, and just talk about life. Over time, the group grew larger and larger where people from other countries joined the ranks of the Lumberjacks. Despite all the different time zones, gaming likes and dislikes, and backgrounds, many found two ties that linked them all together-their love of gaming and experiencing the joy that was Luke. Many Lumberjacks described their first days in the group to be a positive experience because Luke was there to talk with them and make sure they felt welcomed into this new gaming family. It was common for people to log on and see Luke had gifted them a Steam key (a code that is purchased to access a game on Steam Gaming software for any non-gamers reading this) so they could all play a new game together. As awesome and appreciated as this was, his generosity did not stop at Steam Keys. He gave friends various and thoughtful gifts from a Virtual Reality headset, to a Nintendo Switch, to even build-it-yourself models fashioned after favorite games. His kindness and genuine interest in others made him a friend to so many in his gaming family. When one of his gaming friends finally met with Luke in person, he was not disappointed; Lukealot was the same kind, wonderful, funny friend in person as he was in the games-he never changed. His gaming friends will always miss the little voices he made during games, the late, late night discussions as they bond over life and games, Luke's corny jokes, his patience while teaching others games, his willingness to try a new game for friends, and his signature catch phrase, "This is pod racing." As his gaming friends put it, "Keep playing the hunting horn, Baby... we will be happy when we can all meet in the next adventure."

While he would be more than willing to take things slow to teach others in video games, Luke loved to take things fast in life. He loved to run as a form of exercising. He seemed to have a natural gift and determination for it. Luke often surprised others when he could go months without working out to running several miles on the first try. Often he would push himself too hard and too fast that he would wind up hurting himself-normally resulting to taking several months off of running. To Luke it was a cycle of 2 speeds: stopped to faster than light. His love of speed didn't stop at running. Luke used his speed in fencing classes. He went from not knowing much about it to becoming quite talented at advancing, attacking, and parrying against his opponent. He also used his speed at his workplace at NAPA Auto Parts. Luke acquired the name "Speedy" because he always seemed to be in a rush to do things. He would speed through instructions sometimes before he had even heard all of the instructions. After a while of witnessing his work ethic, his boss realized that she had to be careful of how she worded things. She learned that Luke worked best when she told him before a project not to get started until she was done explaining the full project step-by-step. Once he had all the information, Luke would then zip through his assignment like only Luke could. Although Luke liked to go fast, he also could stop and appreciate the world and the people around him. He had a genuine love and care for others.

Luke had many talents, like his running and fencing, but one of his true talents was the ability to connect with people through conversations. He was a joy to have a conversation with, and many people would stop what they were doing just to chat or joke around with Luke. Whether the topic was a complex thesis, a new obscure game, a philosophical question, or just life in general, Luke would meet people where they were at in conversation and sincerely take an interest in what people had to say. Although he excelled in topics that had to do with history or gaming, Luke could follow any subject and would even go out of his way to research more on a topic to understand his friends better. He knew how to ask questions to keep conversations going, and when a topic began to dwindle, you could always count on Luke to present an interesting fact about something random. He seemed to know a little bit about everything. Luke also seemed to have an opinion on all sorts of topics and situations. However, when pressed for his reasoning, people always saw that his opinion was backed by knowledge and wisdom. Luke never seemed to be coarse when discussing his opinions, but rather was kind in understanding where the other person was coming from. As an unknown author wrote, "Kindness is the greatest wisdom." He used his kind wisdom and conversation skills to make people feel included and seen. Many friends described how they could let their guard down around Luke because they knew he would never go to judge them, but would rather encourage them. Friends and family could always count on encouragement from Luke as well as corny jokes. Luke excelled at the art of puns, "Dad" jokes, and word play jokes. He knew how to get in on inside jokes, like the mysterious racoon mafia and the term "Godspeed," which would make people even more comfortable around him. He was also the first to laugh at other jokes, even the really, really bad jokes that required a pitty laugh. Luke was filled with humor, wisdom, and genuine interest in others that could never be matched again.

Luke had many other interests in life. He loved food of all sorts, but his favorite foods were pizza, Chinese food, Indian food, and mustard. As a toddler, his favorite snack was mustard on a slice of bread. He would lick the tangy mustard off just to hold up his slice of bread for more. Luke also liked to drink strong black coffee. He had his own French press to make his coffee as strong and dark as he wanted. Another passion of Luke's was his creativity. He loved to use his imagination to create things. He created beautiful digital sketches in his free time and would occasionally show them to others. Luke also liked to create things within video games. He was exceptionally proud of a long house he created in Valheim, a medieval Norse video game. He would show some of the Lumberjacks his impressive long house as well as other creations in games such as Minecraft and other world building games. His sense of creativity as well as the depth of his passions were endless.

Above all, Luke had a passion for being kind to others. Throughout his life, he showed kindness in his unique way. Here are some other short stories about Luke and his kindness.

When Luke was about to become an Eagle Scout, he had to complete his Eagle Project, a community service project that is a requirement to become an Eagle Scout. He chose to assist a church where he put medical kits as well as tornado shelter route signs on the walls to help others in case of emergencies.

Another example of his kindness was when Luke saw a man with a flat tire on his car. He went over to see if the man needed help. He came to find out that the man didn't have a spare tire to replace his flat tire. Without hesitation, Luke got the spare tire out of his own car and gave it to the man. He didn't ask for money back or any other favors. Luke just went out and got himself a new spare tire.

When Luke and Aaron took a camping trip, a massive hailstorm blew through the campground. The dove into their car for shelter. The relentless hail stones pummeled the car and totaled it along with many other cars around the campground. When the hailstorm subsided, Luke and Aaron went to a store to get items for people in the campground who were affected. When they got back, to everyone's surprise, the hail that totaled the cars didn't affect the tents at all.

There was a time when Luke had a bit too much "liquid luck." In his altered state, he donated $5000 to an unknown charity. His unintentional act of kindness became a popular story amongst his friends.

When his friend Mark and his then girlfriend got their first apartment, they didn't have any chairs for guests to sit out. When people were going to go over to play games, Luke and Mark's now wife went out to Walmart to purchase folding chairs for people to sit out. Mark and his wife still have and use those chairs when guests come over.


Luke was always there to lift burdens off of others. He would be the one to go to the ends of the earth for a loved one at the expense of himself. He was there to listen and understand problems others faced. While he spread so much light for others, he found himself in a dark place. If his loved ones understood the depth of the darkness Luke felt lost in, they themselves would have traveled not only the world, but the entire universe to be there for him. Luke gave and shared his radiant light of joy and love to others that no one could see past the blinding light into the darkness and anxiety through which he struggled. To the extreme sorrow and pain of his family, Luke passed away on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 in Garland, Texas. His passing left a void in the lives of so many from around the world from his family to his gaming friends to those who have been touched by his acts of kindness.

Luke William Ferguson is survived by his loving parents, Larry and Cynthia Ferguson; his sister, Jessica Palmer and her husband, Jason; his brother, Daniel Ferguson and his wife, Mallory; his nephews, William Lozano, Jason Palmer, Jr.; his nephew or niece who is soon to arrive; and his grandparents, William and Bobbie Russell.

Luke led a life of kindness. His legacy is in the smiles people have when they remember his jokes, the minds that were changed by his wisdom and discussions, the people that climb a mountain to marvel at the majesty of nature, and in the acts of kindness that have been passed on starting with an act of kindness from Luke. Luke William Ferguson was and is dearly loved, and his life and his kindness will never be forgotten.



"Have you had a kindness shown? Pass it on.
'Twas not given for you alone. Pass it on.
Let it travel down the years,
Let it wipe another's tears...
Pass it on."

Rev. Henry Burton


For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38‭-‬39 ESV