Swimwear and Textile Executive Eugene F. Ferranti, 74
Eugene “Gene” F. Ferranti, president and owner of G. Ferranti Textiles Inc., died July 2 because of pulmonary fibrosis. He was 74.
Ferranti lived in Fort Lee, N.J., at the time of his death and in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., prior to that. He also spent several years in Los Angeles, where he worked for Rose Marie Reid Swimwear.
He began his career as a stylist for Folker Fabrics in New York in the 1950s. He moved to Los Angeles in 1960 to work with Reid and then went back to New York in 1966 when he established G. Ferranti Textiles, a printing specialist for the swimwear industry.
Ferranti was an Army veteran of the Korean War. He was also a board member of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Theologian and a member of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association of Bergen County, N.J.
“I knew Gene for about 40 years. He was a gentleman. He was funny and a great friend of the industry,” said Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association.
Ferranti is survived by his wife, Fran; his four children, Neil, Steven, Kenneth and Allison; and his three grandchildren.
His funeral, attended by more than 2,000 mourners, was officiated by the bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of metropolitan New York and New Jersey. —Robert McAllister
