William M. Ferrara

Bill Ferrara died Sunday July 6, 2008 at the Denver Hospice, from complications of prostate cancer. Bill was born on August 30, 1922 in Boston, Massachusetts, the third of seven children, to Salvatore and Mary Ferrara. He worked to help support his family from an early age, delivering newspapers and caddying for golfers at Wood's Hole, Massachusetts. He served in the US Navy for six years, fighting in the Pacific in World War II. Bill traveled the world with the Navy and this remained a pivotal experience in his life. After the war, he married Ruth Hylander. Bill studied horticulture at Colorado A&M (now Colorado State University) under the GI Bill before returning to New England where he owned and operated a wholesale floral business in Grafton, Massachusetts. In Grafton, he and Ruth raised their four children. When Bill and Ruth divorced in the early seventies, Bill moved to Denver and managed a grain elevator, sold real estate and eventually returned to the flower business to work at Country Fair Garden Center for many years. He gained a reputation as a local gardening expert, consulting with customers and answering callers' questions on the radio. After retiring from the floral business in his 60's, he still enjoyed excellent health and grew tired of staying idly at home. He started a new career as a security guard for APG Security and retired again two years ago at the age of 83. Bill's grandchildren remember him as a gentle and thoughtful man, full of good stories from his many trades over the years and from his time in the Navy. A fine cook and a lover of food and drink, a prodigious walker, with a keen ear for music, especially big band and traditional jazz, he was a dapper city boy who eventually fell in love with the mountains of Colorado. He was handsome and independent to the end and looked a decade younger than his age. Bill is survived by his longtime best friend Lucie Bourrier of Denver, Colorado; three sisters Anne Robinson of Mt. Dora, Florida, Marie Dionne of Holbrook, Mass- achusetts and Elaine McCusker of Marshfield, Massachusetts; four children Judy Croteau of Lincoln- ville, Maine, Clinton Ferrara of Shelton, Washington, Kathy DeFord of Omaha, Nebraska and Trisha Harkin of Plymouth, Massachusetts; twelve grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren. Burial of Cremated Remains will be held on Thursday, July 10 at 10:45 am at Ft. Logan National Cemetery, Staging Area ""C"". In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Salvation Army at 4751 N. Broadway, Denver.