Nello ferrara biography

Nello Ferrara, the candy company executive who brought the world Lemonheads and Atomic FireBalls, died on Feb. 3 at his home in the Chicago suburb River Forest.
Born in 1918 in Illinois to Salvatore and Sarah Ferrara, Nello V. Ferrara graduated from Loyola University Chicago and earned a law degree.
Nello Ferrara died Friday at his home in the Chicago suburb of River Forest surrounded by his family.

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RIVER FOREST, Ill. - Candy company executive Nello Ferrara lived a sweet life.

The man who brought the world Lemonheads and Atomic Fire Balls routinely serenaded people in the restaurants where he dined and held mandatory family dinners every Sunday, said his son, Salvatore Ferrara.

Nello Ferrara died Friday at home in River Forest surrounded by his family. He was 93.

The Ferrara Pan Candy Co. was started in 1908, and Nello Ferrara took it over from his father decades ago. The company, which also makes Red Hots and Boston Baked Beans, produces 1 million pounds of candy a day, Salvatore Ferrara said.

Salvatore Ferrara, the company’s current chief executive, said his birth inspired his father to invent the Lemonhead candy.

“He always claimed that when I was born . . . my head was shaped like a lemon,’’ he said.

The Atomic Fire Ball was invented after Nello Ferrara’s time in Japan after World War II.

Nello Ferrara also loved to sing, and did so every day - especially when the family dined out, his son said. “He would be walking around the restaurant, table to table, singing

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Nello Ferrara, 93, of River Forest, patriarch and chairman of the board of the Ferrara Pan Candy company died on Feb. 3.

After World War II, Ferrara capitalized on the company’s signature product, “Red Hots” a spicy cinnamon pan candy. He created the legacy Ferrara brands: Atomic Fireballs and Lemonheads. Under his leadership, Ferrara Pan became a candy company of national prominence.

“He was an icon in this industry,” said granddaughter Alana Ferrara. “He was a great man, really incredible. And he sang everywhere he went. His favorite song was ‘Send in the Clowns’.”

Nello Ferrara was born in Chicago, grew up in Chicago’s Taylor Street neighborhood and attended St. Ignatius College Prep High School. He graduated from DePaul Law School in 1942 and immediately joined the U.S. Army in counter-intelligence during World War II. He worked in Tokyo after the war as a Japanese war crimes prosecutor.

Ferrara joined the company, founded by his father Salvatore, in 1947. Salvatore and his brothers-in-law were Italian immigrant

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Candy exec Nello Ferrara, creator of Lemonheads and Atomic Fire Balls, dies at 93

RIVER FOREST, Ill. – Candy company executive Nello Ferrara lived a sweet life.

The man who brought the world Lemonheads and Atomic Fire Balls routinely serenaded the restaurants where he dined and held mandatory family dinners every Sunday, said his son, Salvatore Ferrara.

Nello Ferrara died Friday at his home in the Chicago suburb of River Forest surrounded by his family. He was 93.

The Forest Park-based Ferrara Pan company was started in 1908, and Nello Ferrara took it over from his father decades ago. The company, which also makes Red Hots and Boston Baked Beans, produces one million pounds of candy a day, Salvatore Ferrara said.

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Ferrara, the company’s current president and CEO, said his birth inspired his father to inven