December 28, 1930 - June 20, 2019

Guido was born in the Florence District of Los Angeles, where he worked in the family auto repair business. In 1941 he moved to Guido Ruffoni’s dairy farm in Santa Maria, where he learned to milk cows and tend crops. He was drafted into the Army in 1943 and was stationed in Fort Munroe in Hampton, VA. He worked mainly in the motor pool. After coming down with the flu (from a flu vaccine) prior to shipping out to Japan, he was kept back at the base. In 1948 he used his benefits from the GI Bill to enroll at L.A. Trade Technical School where he studied auto repair.

In the years after graduation he spent a short time selling real estate and automobiles for Downey Dodge. In 1956 he married Miriam Martin from Orville, OH and began a family. Their first child was Theresa Marie, followed by Thomas Michael and Timothy Mark. A chance meeting with a customer gained him an interview at North American Aviation (later Rockwell International), where he worked on a variety of important projects regarding the exploration of space, the Apollo Missions, experimental spacecraft and flight simulation laboratories for the Space Shuttle.

In 1980 he had heart bypass surgery and his son Tim got him into cycling as a form of recovery, and he enjoyed the sport for over 40 years. In 1998 he and 3 other cyclists (all in their 70s) competed in the Race Across America and won their division, crossing the US in a record time of 8 days, 9 hrs & 11 mins. He spent the final years of his career at the Rockwell plant in Seal Beach. Guido was never sedentary in retirement; he kept riding with his friends in the SCOR cycling club and organizing rides across the state.

He is survived by his wife Miriam of 63 years and his sons Tom and Tim.. A vigil was held yesterday for Guido at Risher Mortuary in Montebello and a mass will take place today at 10:00 AM at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Guido will be interred on Friday, July 19, at Calvary Cemetery at 10:30 AM with military honors. For more obituary information and to leave condolences for the family, please visit

www.RisherMortuary.com or call 562-861-3888.