John F. Ferdinandi Jr., photographed at the Santa Fe tracks at Shields Avenue in 2001, started Fresno Area Residents for Rail Consolidation to advocate for moving tracks out of the city's core. He died Sunday. (Bee file photo)

He stuffed envelopes for his church. He urged politicians to ban the death penalty and abortion. And, though the 71-year-old died Sunday of cancer, his determination might still change the shape of the city.

Mr. Ferdinandi founded Fresno Area Residents for Rail Consolidation, a group dedicated to moving tracks that cut through the city's heart.

"This is what he ate, slept and did for the last three years of his life," said Tom Bailey, a friend and fellow rail-consolidation advocate. "Other than his family, it was the driving force in his life."

The son of Italian immigrants, Mr. Ferdinandi was born in Rochester, N.Y. In 1945, he moved to Fresno, where he attended San Joaquin Memorial High School.

Mr. Ferdinandi served four years in the Air Force. In 1952, he married his wife, Sally. He returned to Fresno in 1954.

Mr. Ferdinandi worked with his father and brother at J. Ferdinandi Formal Wear. While he rented tuxedos, his children shined shoes for licorice gum.

He taught good work ethic. "You did the best you could," said his daughter, Barbara Burns."You work hard and don't sit around and be lazy and let someone else do it"

After leaving the store, Mr. Ferdinandi sold band uniforms and insurance. He had a heart attack in 1988 and briefly retired in 1990.

In the early 1990s, he went into property management. He retired a second time in 1995, settling in Aptos, where he wrote for three newspapers. He moved back to Fresno in 1999.

A few months after his return, a train derailed in Fresno, spilling gallons of wine near neighborhoods and parks. Mr. Ferdinandi worried: What if it had been a hazardous material?

And so began his push to move the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks to near Freeway 99.

Mr. Ferdinandi recruited his neighbor, Bailey, and others, including now-Fresno City Council Member Brian Calhoun. Mr. Ferdinandi won the support of more than 6,000 businesses, politicians and residents.

In 2002, Mayor Alan Autry named Mr. Ferdinandi head of his Fresno Rail Consolidation Task Force. He also served as chairman of a downtown revitalization committee and worked to pass Measure C, a transportation initiative voters narrowly rejected in November.

Without Mr. Ferdinandi, "I don't think it would have ever moved forward," Bailey said.

"It's going to be a big, big void to fill," Calhoun said. "Not a lot of people come around like John Ferdinandi."

Such sentiment was echoed Monday by his family. Mr. Ferdinandi played charades, loved to sail and collected lighthouse replicas. He enjoyed fragrant flowers and high school father-daughter dances.

"He really was trying to make the world a better place," said daughter Nancy Wathen.

"In his small way, he tried to make it better."

In addition to his wife and daughters Barbara and Nancy, Mr. Ferdinandi is survived by daughters Mary Smith of Fresno and Teresa Hernandez of Bakersfield; son Tom Ferdinandi of Fresno; and 10 grandchildren.

A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Thursday at Whitehurst Chapel in Fresno. Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday at Our Lady of Victory Church in Fresno.

The reporter can be reached at jfitzenberger@fresnobee.com or 441-6313.