A Durango native known for his many acts of goodwill, including repairing the courthouse clock, will be remembered at a service Saturday.
Anthony “Tony” Ferdinando, 94, died April 7, 2016, at Vista Mesa Assisted Living in Cortez, and his service will be at 3:30 p.m. at Greenmount Cemetery. His two daughters, Ann Tonia “Toni” Hankins and Shirley Ann Moates, and his son Gary Ferdinando survive him.
Ferdinando was born in 1922 and attended Thompson School, a one-room schoolhouse that was on the Florida Mesa south of town.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Forces shortly after marrying Irene Waddell, his wife of 61 years, in January 1944. He flew 35 missions as a tail gunner in the 392nd Bomb Group on a B-24 Liberator during World War II.
After being discharged from the military, Ferdinando worked a variety of jobs in La Plata County, including serving 14 years as a deputy sheriff, 20 years as the supervisor of equipment management at Fort Lewis College and for 22 years taught the Junior Rifle Club through the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars Post No. 4031.
“He was a gunner in World War II and he took that experience to teach children to be safe with guns,” Hankins said.
Ferdinando was “very devoted to Durango,” she said.
His civic actions included campaigning for the establishment of Perins Peak Wildlife Area and Bodo Wildlife Area, where Lake Nighthorse is now, and repairing the La Plata County Courthouse clock in 1988 free of charge, Hankins said. “It took him quite a while, but he didn’t ask for a penny. He wanted to do that for Durango.”
Ferdinando was preceded in death by brothers, William and Herman, and wife.
His service will include a graveside memorial and will be attended by the Veteran Honor Guard from Durango’s VFW, Hankins said.
