Joliet man worked hard, never gave up

JOLIET – Peter Ferro of Minooka likened his father – also Peter Ferro, but of Joliet – to the Energizer Bunny. He never let challenges or difficulties stop him – ever.

“He was always saying, ‘It’s just another bump in the road,’ ” Ferro said.

The co-owner of P.T. Ferro Construction, the elder Peter felt many of those bumps. After his mother died, his father asked his aunt to come to the United States, marry him and help raise his three children, Ferro said. Both Peter’s parents were immigrants.

Then after Peter’s father died when Peter was in his early teens, Peter ran newspaper routes seven days a week before serving in the U.S. Army. In 1952, while working for Powers-Thompson Construction Co., Ferro said Peter fell more than 43 feet and nearly died.

“He went through three years of being in and out of the hospital,” Ferro said.

During his recovery, Peter received $25 a month from Stone City VFW Post 2199 in Joliet and returned the favor with longtime support, Ferro said. When Peter recovered enough to work, he returned to Powers-Thompson – on crutches, as timekeeper. Again, Peter was thankful.

Ferro said his father epitomized the “hardworking work ethic” of the generation that came through the Great Depression and World War II.

“They didn’t ask for anything,” Ferro said. “They went out and they worked. And they worked and they worked. They gave you nine hours for eight hours’ pay. You took responsibility for your actions and went out and improved yourself.”

Through the years, Peter experienced more bumps: additional knee injuries, a 16-hour surgery to remove a large growth from his back, quadruple bypass surgery and then a second heart surgery three hours later when something “sprang a leak.”

Still, Peter didn’t give up. He kept going.

“Nothing ever stopped him,” Ferro said.

Peter also supported the Church of St. Anthony in downtown Joliet, Ferro said. Yet when Peter married Ruby – with whom he spent the next 66 years – he was not allowed to marry her inside the church because she was Lutheran.

In those days, many denominations often frowned on “mixed marriages.”

“They actually got married in the alley next to St. Anthony,” Ferro said.

When Powers-Thompson closed, Peter and his brother, Tony, started the construction company, which has employed thousands of people through the years. Ferro himself retired 20 years ago. His brother, Jim Ferro, of Minooka, retired last year. Another brother, John Ferro, of Manhattan, now runs the company.

P.T. Ferro Construction was one of the first area companies to begin profit sharing, which Peter initiated in the late 1960s or early 1970s, Ferro said. In later years, Peter also hosted an annual party at Al’s Steak House in Joliet for other retired employees.

Peter believed in showing appreciation to his people.

“He would always say, ‘The only reason I made it is because I had a good core of hardworking guys that came with me and made this place successful,’ ” Ferro said.

Peter was 92 when he died May 11.

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