Michael Anthony Fernicola; Retired GM Manager

Michael Anthony Fernicola, a retired General Motors Corp. manager who helped establish the San Fernando Valley GM Retirees Club, has died in Parker, Ariz. He was 67.

Fernicola died Oct. 3 of a heart attack while at his vacation home, said his son, Ronald Anthony Fernicola.

Born Sept. 6, 1923, in Utica, N.Y., Fernicola served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. After he was discharged, he moved to Los Angeles and settled in Arleta in 1951. He started on the assembly line at General Motors’ Van Nuys plant in 1953 and worked his way into management, giving quality-of-life seminars until his retirement in 1980. After he left General Motors, he helped found the San Fernando Valley GM Retirees Club for salaried retirees.

Fernicola later worked as a licensed real estate broker for Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Sherman Oaks and was a member of American Legion Post No. 817 in Panorama City.

He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Anne Fernicola; sons Michael Richard Fernicola of Northridge and Ronald Anthony Fernicola of Studio City; a daughter, Lauren Rose Kennedy of Panorama City; and four grandchildren.

A memorial Mass is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Genevieve’s Catholic Church, 14061 Roscoe Blvd., Panorama City.