Ralph J. Gionta

I became friends with Ralph through SOS, both sailing with him and at our Philly-area happy hours. And I was on a boat with Ralph during our BVI sailing trip in 2003.

But my fondest memories of Ralph are of him and his pals Joe, John and cousin Silvi working on my old boat. I had bought it in Rhode Island and planned to move it to the Chesapeake. At one of our happy hours Ralph approached me and said, When you move your boat down to the Chesapeake can we work on it for you? You...

I worked part time as a seminarian at Judson Press where I got to know Ralph. We all liked Ralph who together with his boss, the late Jack Haegele, ran Judson Press. I was sorry to hear of his passing. But it looks like he was able to enjoy a lengthy and active retirement. RIP old friend.

Met Ralph dancing at the Tap House a few years ago, and I loved dancing with him, he was a great dancer. I recently moved so I am just getting the news now. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family. Always a gentleman and good friend.

Ralph was a kind man who always had something nice and/or funny to say and share with his many friends.

My sympathy to Ralph's family. He was a kind man who always had something nice and/or funny to say and share with his many friends.

As friends of Mike, Ralph treated us like we were part of the family. We have so many fond memories of sailing, dinners and seeing bands here and in Avalon. Ralph showed us all how to live life to the fullest. Just glad we got to share some of it with him. Judy & Brian Brennan

My sincere condolences to Ralph's family. I met Ralph about 50 years ago when we both worked at Judson Press or the Holy Donut as many referred to it. Then about 30 years later is when I got to know him through the Valley Forge Walkers group. We had a laugh about how our paths crossed again. He always had the greatest smile and was very upbeat. He brought lots of fun wherever he went. He loved his heritage, which we also had in common.

Barbara Billek and I had the pleasure of sailing with Ralph from Key West to Fort Lauderdale during his trip down the Intracoastal Waterway and to the Bahamas. We had a grand time and on our last day aboard in Fort Lauderdale, we took him to dinner at OPA in Hollywood, Florida because he was looking for a place to take Michael and his friends who were to visit him after we left. Knowing Ralph, we thought his son would also be a fun loving person and we knew that was what made OPA one of our...

Just wanted to let people know if they never met Ralph, they missed an opportunity to meet one of the nicest, sincere, generous, funny and Friendly person you could of ever met.