Raymond P. Fornaciari was born in 1922 in San Francisco to Italian immigrants. He lived first in North Beach and later grew up in the Marina district. He graduated from Galileo High School where he was a standout five-sport athlete and earned a scholarship to play football for USF. After graduation from high school he volunteered as head coach for the Galileo crew team and was inducted into the Galileo High School Hall of Fame.
He joined the Navy during World War II but was given a medical discharge during boot camp. Ray entered the family linen business and later became an owner of Peerless Linen and board member of the New San Francisco Laundry. During his years as an owner of Peerless Linen, Peerless became one the largest laundry operations in California. His engineering and machinist expertise resulted in a patent for a process that led to more efficient laundry operations throughout the country. At age 60 Raymond ventured into the computer business as one of four partners who built and operated the highly successful High Density Disc Manufacturing Company. Raymond was also an active member of and volunteer for the San Francisco Elks Lodge and San Francisco Italian Athletic Club (SFChronicle).
