Vitt Ferrucci, a longtime member of the Puyallup School Board who gave his name to Ferrucci Junior High, has died.

He was 90 years old when he died of cardiac arrest June 1.

Ferrucci, a veterinarian by trade, spent an extraordinary 38 years on the School Board. He was appointed in 1957, the year the Russians launched Sputnik, and was re-elected nine times before stepping down in 1995, the year the federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed.

Ferrucci Junior High was named after him when the school opened in 1982.

Puyallup School District Superintendent Tony Apostle described the son of Italian immigrants as a courageous leader, particularly when it came to addressing enrollment growth in the South Hill area in the 1990s.

In one instance Apostle recalled Wednesday, voters in the district had just shot down a $25 million bond measure for school construction in 1990.

But Ferrucci, when told it would take double that amount for the district to accommodate growth, advocated placing a $49.8 million bond measure on the ballot less than a year later.

The bond measure passed, funding the construction of two new schools and an overhaul of two other campuses.

“He said, ‘Let’s build on what we really need, not what we think voters will approve,’” said Apostle, who has worked as a Puyallup School District administrator since 1990.

“He gave more of himself than he received in terms of his contribution to this community, and he will be greatly missed.”

Ferrucci set up a veterinary practice in Puyallup in 1946 and ran it until retiring from the profession in 1991. He was active in the Puyallup Chamber of Commerce and the Puyallup Kiwanis Club.

A 1944 graduate of Washington State University, he served on the WSU Board of Regents from 1980 to 1986.

Ferrucci’s son, Skip, said his father applied the same work ethic he learned on his family’s farm in the 1930s to his community involvement later in life.

“As the son of a truck-farming family, you learn to work really, really hard,” Skip Ferrucci said Wednesday. “He was very dedicated to all the groups he participated in.”

Ferrucci, who was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, is also survived by two daughters who live out of state. In all, he has six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A funeral service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at the Powers Funeral Home in Puyallup.

Melissa Santos: 253-552-7058

melissa.santos@thenewstribune.com