Michael Paul Ferrannini was born on September 24, 1953 in San Jose, California to Andrew and Nora Ferrannini, and died on July 15, 2024 after a brief illness. As a child, he’d suffered from asthma, and when his father was transferred from San Jose to Carmel-by-the-Sea, his asthma abated because of the moist ocean air. He loved it there – he could at last ride his bicycle with abandon and collect seashells and rocks at the beach, which was walking distance from his house. He never forgot that freedom; it stayed with him for the rest of his life. He attended Mission San Carlos Borromeo Catholic School and when his family moved to Sacramento, he attended Our Lady of the Assumption and graduated from Jesuit High School. When he was two years old, his first sister Catherine was born, followed by his other sisters Mary and Anna, and he immediately became their protector. By age 13, when his first brother Andy was born, it was clearly evident that his path in life was to care for and protect children and all the helpless, including animals. His childhood ambition was to drive a truck and so he became a UPS truck driver. He was a hard worker and a very big supporter of the Teamsters union and the rights of fellow drivers. As his nieces and nephews were born, he delighted in going fishing and going to the ocean and to scary Halloween houses with them. As they grew older and went off to college, he met a family on his UPS route who had three adorable children named Zach, Marissa and Ari. He became their Uncle Mike, too. He could not have been happier. He remained a faithful son to his parents and loved fishing every summer in Lake Tahoe with his father and family friends and he loved baseball, but his biggest love was playing golf with his friends and cousin John Caramanno. For so many years, Mike and his family spent the entire summer in Lake Tahoe with their beloved aunt Grace and Caramanno cousins from New York. They became like close brothers. Mike loved movies, especially historical westerns and anything involving Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Kevin Costner. He knew the scripts by heart. He loved his Ford truck – you could hear him coming from a mile away. He promised his grandfather that one day he would go to Italy to meet his Italian family. That was the adventure of his lifetime. He met them all from Apulia and Naples and fell in love. He went to Italy a second time with 10 of his relatives, which included an adopted family relative named Frankie Nieto, and this time they added Switzerland and France to the agenda. At a very special event in 2000, he was able to see the Shroud of Turin. He never married because the love of his life was a girl named Mary Ellen. They were separated by a continent, and he never got over her. Throughout the years, and even in the months before his passing, he spoke of her often. Michael had a personal and powerful relationship with God and read his Bible daily, year-in and year-out. As Bishop Barron says, you can tell when someone is filled with the Holy Spirit because they will not stop talking about God. He could not stop talking about God the Father and his son Jesus. At times, people were uncomfortable hearing him talk about Jesus, but he kept talking, and now with his kind, gentle heart he rests with his father, and sister Anna, and his most beloved Savior, where he was always meant to be.