text: Ferland was the son of Andrew Joseph Ferland,
  a career officer in the United States Air Force, 
  and Ida Marie Schneemann.
  He was raised in Washington D.C., 
  the Panama Canal Zone,
  Alaska, Florida, and Texas, where he received a BS in Physics with Special Honors
  in 1972 at the University of Texas.
  He married Ann Elizabeth Clemmens (1952-) in 1983. 
  They have two children, Peter Andrew (1987-) and Elizabeth Marie (1989-).