Henry R. FERRETTIE

12 JUL 1921 - 31 MAR 1985

• BIRTH: 12 JUL 1921, Mishawaka, St Joseph, IN
• DEATH: 31 MAR 1985, Mishawaka, St Joseph, IN

• MARRIAGE: 3 MAR 1943

INDEX

[N26952] Henry R. Ferrettie

Birth 12 Jul 1921
Mishawaka, St. Joseph, IN

Death 31 Mar 1985 (aged 63)
Mishawaka, St. Joseph, IN

Burial
Fairview Cemetery
Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, Indiana
Memorial ID 81411346

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South Bend Tribune 4/1/1985

Henry Ferrettie, 63, St. Joseph County Commissioner, died at 3:45 a.m. Sunday at St. Joseph Hospital in Mishawaka, apparently of a heart attack. He was taken to the hospital Saturday afternon from his home in Mishawaka, where he was recuperating from a Feb. 21 heart attack. Mr. Ferrettie, of 316 W. 10th St., Mishawaka, was noted for his contributions to major public works in Mishawaka during his eight years as a Democratic Commissioner from District 3 and for his enthusiam in working for countywide and regional projects.
He joined current Commissioners Richard Larrison and Richard Jasinski in January 1977, bringing a spirit of cooperation, pride and enthusiam to the office of commissioner, said Jasinski, D-Distric 2. "He upgraded this office," Jasinski said. "People started noticing commissioners and what they do. During the eight-and-a-half years I worked with him, the projects kept coming in and we kept working on them. He always brought in the (County) council and even the mayors, and he always gave the credit to the other commissioners for their support."
Larrison, a 13 year member of the commissioners board, said Mr. Ferrettie was an integral part of a tight-knit team of county executives."It's hard to imagine this job without him," Larrison said. "This was easily the best group I've ever worked with." Last week, Mr. Ferrettie was contemplating returning to work in two to three weeks, but on a more limited basis, colleagues said. During his recuperation, he had sent letters of resignations for most of the 11 appointed posts he held on local and regional government boards and on local economic development agencies, according to Jasinski.

Mr. Ferrettie was born July 12, 1921, in Mishawaka, and was a lifelong resident. His wife, the former Pauline Henderson, survives. Also surviving are two sons, John of Osceola and Thomas of Mishawaka; a daughter, Gloria Wentworth of Mishawaka; six grandchildren, and a brother, Arthur of Mishawaka.

Mr. Ferrettie earned three Battle Stars while serving in the Army's 42nd Rainbow Divosion of the Army in World War II. He was an associate member of the BK Club, was a five-term president and 49-year member of the DeAmicis Club, was an associate member of FOP Lodge 91 and belonged to VFW Post 360 and American Legion Post 161.
He was past president and a 25-year member of the Mishawaka Retail Food Dealers Association and served on its board of directors for 22 years. During his 39 years of membership in the Penn Twp. Men's Democratic Club, he served two years as president and two years as secretary. He also served on the St. Joseph County Drainage board and on the board of directors for The Res in Mishawaka. The Tribune interviews, Mr. Ferrettie spoke with pride of his part in the construction of a Conrail grade separation at Church and Union streets, the establishment of a county services building in MIshawaka and the construction of a Capital Avenue bridge over the St. Joseph River, now in progress. Besides serving eight years as a Democratic commissioner for the county's 3rd Commissioners Distric, Mr. Ferrettie was instrumental in the continuation of passenger service of the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad. He was a director of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District until he resigned from that post recently on physician's orders. Mr. Ferrettie also was involved in regional issues as a member of the Kankekee River Basin board and as a vocal supporter of a regional solid-waste disposal system through the proposed establishment of an incinerator serving three of more counties.Mr. Ferrettie's election to the commissioners board in 1976 was his first successful candidacy for public office. It followed close losses in races for clerk-treasurer of Mishawaka in 1967 and for mayor of Mishawaka in 1971.Before being elected to office, Mr. Ferrettie made a name for himself as a community leader in Mishawaka and as a neighborhood leader on Mishawaka's West Side, said Sam Mercantini, a close friend and political advisor.Mercantini noted Mr. Ferrettie's energetic involvement in the DeAmicis Club, of which he served as president, the Marian High Boosters Club and the Penn Twp. Men's Democratic Club, of which he was a 39-year member at the time of his death.
"When he started campaigning, people felt his enthusiasm," Mercantini said. "And his enthusiasm for helping people never left him. It didn't make any difference if you were from his district of whether you were a Democrat or Republican. He'd go to bat for you, if he thought you had a valid problem." When Mr. Ferrettie returned from 38 months of Military Service in World War II, he and Vincent Moraschi took over the operation of the Moraschi-Ferrettie Grocery Store, across the street from his house at 307 W. 10th St. The store, a West Side landmark, was founded in 1918 by their fathers, Guido Ferrettie and Frank Moraschi. In 1974, Mr. Ferrettie, then 55, sold the store to the DeAmicis Club and joined his former partner in retirement. In 1982, Mr. Ferrettie told the Tribune that dissatisfaction with the inactivity of retirement was a factor in his decision to re-enter politics in 1976.