Richard Anthony Riccelli

Happy Valentine's Day sweetheart~~ here's a receipt showing your first love

Always thinking about the good times.

Its difficult to realize that Richard has been gone a year. The Fort Monmouth community lost a superb manager as well as a wonderful human being. I learned much from Richard, perhaps the most important being how to treat people. It was in that vein that Richard was a superior manager. I truly believe he is with God for the life he lived.

I've come to treasure our memories more and more during this past year ~

Happy Father's Day Sweetheart

You would be loving that the Yankees are doing good! Watching the games without texting you just isn't the same. Miss you my Cousin!

We shared a lot of White Castle Valentines Days together . They were lots of yummy fun. We all miss you soooo much!!! Love you always

Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart ~ miss you

Missing my cousin so much. Miss my weekly phone calls.

Rick was the best neighbor you could ask for. In fact, the Bible itself makes mention of loving your neighbor as much as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39) and he was an example for us all of exactly that.

The little that I was able to know and converse with Rick, he showed compassion, the good in all and always found a way to say things always have a solution in the most loving way possible. His willingness to lend a hand and support others, was unmatched. I wish I would have spent more days talking with him, learning from his wisdom as he was what many of us aspire to be. My love and condolences to his loved ones. He´s one that will be missed and surely remembered in our neighborhood.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Happy Birthday Rick

Rick was Paul's supervisor at Fort Monmouth for 10 years before the Fort closed. They developed a good relationship there. After they retired, the friendship continued and we had many wonderful times together. We enjoyed going to each other's homes for holidays and other occasions and seeing Rick's huge train set-up, with race cars underneath. We especially enjoyed taking "our" grandsons to Great Adventure many times and had many fun days (and evenings) there. He always thought of our grandsons as his, too. We also enjoyed going to his community pool where our grandsons learned to jump off the diving boards.
We missed Rick and Terry when they moved to Florida, but Rick would make a point of visiting us when he came up north. We always appreciated that. We are so sorry and sad that he is gone, and so are the boys. He will definitely be missed.
Love sincerely, Paul and Eva Herink

I will always remember how kind Rick was. Always there to lend a helping hand with a smile on his face. He helped me move in my freshman year of college to the FGCU dorms. He wanted so badly to help out since my dad couldn´t be there to help. He was such a wonderful friend and neighbor to my grandparents and my family. We love you Rick, rest easy

Cog Railroad

The snowmen!

I want to extend my sincere Sympathy to the entire Riccelli Family for their Precious Loss. I knew Rick for almost 21 years from my days at Fort Monmouth. Rick was a Good Person in Life.

I recall the first time I met Rick as my Deputy Director. He had an impressive Friendly, Pleasant, and Good Natured Personality. His demeanor was Heartwarming and Caring. As time went on in future discussions you see see he loved people, he displayed a sincere attention to listen, and a dedicated willingness to help resolve problems. These were wonderful attributes that I admired about Rick.

I will always remember our many baseball conversations and his devoted love of the New York Yankees. Talking Baseball was always a great topic for him to discuss in a leisure discussions. After Rick and I retired we continued to maintain that Friendship that started when I first met Rick. His loss was unexpected. I know that he is in the hands of the Good Lord looking down on his entire Family and the Friends he loved in life.

Rick, Rest In Peace my Friend. You will be missed by many.

Cathy as infant

Ricky exemplifies the meaning of the word appreciation. From regularly polishing his cars (even when garaged), keeping his model railroads running (flawless and on time); to keeping his lawn green and healthy. He appreciated life´s good surprises and was always happy to share its positive details. I especially enjoyed texting Ricky while watching the Yankees. His insights made the games more exciting. I will miss his loyal cheering and signing off: Take Care Cousin!

Terry and Tara, our most heartfelt condolences to you. As so many have written we are at a loss for words, but we would like to share a couple of fond memories we have of Rick. We initially met Rick going to play Pickle Ball our first time ever. We barely had the gate open when we were greeted by the friendliest man we have ever met. "Come on in and join us!" as if we knew him all our lives, and by the time we were done playing that day we thought we had. We soon found out about his love of trains, the Yankees, Disney, Dunkin´ Donuts and White Castle. On our first Disney trip in 20 years, we texted with Rick virtually the entire day, taking all his advice on where to eat, which rides to go on first, and course, taking a few pictures of the train at Magic Kingdom to send him. He and Terry helped take care of our cat when we had to travel right after Hurricane Ian and we couldn´t even begin to describe how that put our minds at ease. Nothing was ever a problem for him, and he seemed happiest when he was able to help with something. We feel very lucky we were able to spend an afternoon with him a short time ago and talk sports and even a little Monty Python. Even in my last text to him he was talking about the Yankees and said to say hi to Kathy as he always did. He was an extremely special man, and we feel honored and privileged to have known him. Terry and Tara, we will surely miss Rick but also know he will live on in your hearts because of all the wonderful memories. We know he will for us too. Love, John and Kathy Raab.

Grand Am

High School Graduation

F85 - first car

Parties in the basement

All I can do from this distance is to imagine I am wrapping my arms around you, Tara and Terry, to express my love and sorrow. It's hard to believe that such a vibrant person as Rick has been stilled. We always spoke that he would be here again to share sandwiches and stories. We have been talking about how much joy he got from simple pleasures. His joy and enthusiasm was contagious. I wish there were a magic formula to ease the pain of your sadness.
Please know that we love you and Terry and you're both in our thoughts and prayers.
With Great Love,
Shirley and Gerrie

My wife and I only met Rick and Terry a few years ago, but once you got to know him, you felt like you met the greatest guy in the world. He was also easy to talk to, kind, considerate, willing to help out anytime. I really enjoyed his company. He liked my models and I liked his trains. I found only one flaw! He was a die-hard Yankees fan, and I am a Rays fan. But all things considering, he was the best friend you could ever have.
God bless him.
Love Steve Chikosky

Terry and Tara,
Sending love, hugs and heartfelt condolences. My heart is just breaking for you. I only knew Rich for such a short time - he made such a difference in so many lives. I knew that right away about him. Now that i read this obituary and the comments and see the photos...I know that to be exponential. We need more Ricks in this world. Kay Pott (Pickleball)

Note the roller coasters in the distance...

Our deepest condolences on the loss of Rick. We have warm memories of him in New Jersey playing baseball with our kids on a friend's lawn. After the move to Florida, we enjoyed seeing his home & community and spending time at a coast beach. We will never forget his passion for the Yankees. Like "Field of Dreams", we hope he's at peace & playing baseball with all the Yankee greats.

Michelle and I will miss Rick more then words can describe. I first meet Rick and Terry thru Michelle as they all took the bus to NYC in the early eighties for work. When Michelle found out Rick was a fellow engineer and into Lionel Trains, she knew I had to meet him. Turns out he lived 4 houses down the street from us. When Rick told me he was looking for a new position since his NYC employer wanted to relocate him out of state, I arranged an interview for him at Fort Monmouth. That was the start of his government career. Over the years we became very close friends. The families went to 5 National Train Conventions around the country to include the one in Detroit where we toured the Lionel factory. For over 3 decades Rick and I would go out to York, PA twice a year to the biggest train show in the USA and always come back with some new found treasures to add to our collection. Hope to see you again at the next Train Station. Steve & Michelle

I was devastated by the news that my very good friend, and former boss, passed away. We had been in constant contact. I was so happy that he was having the surgery and would soon start to feel better.
I worked with Rick at Ebasco in 2WTC during the 80s. We remained friends all these years and a better friend you could not find. I used to tell him that he was like an older brother to me. When I met my husband, rich, I knew they would hit it off. My husband is a Yankee fan and a Lionel train enthusiast. Rick sponsored my husband's membership into the TCA. Now they could go to the York train show together. My kids love spending time with Rick, possibly because he was a big kid himself. Always had a smile on his face and a great sense of humor. He was a mensch. Have a peaceful transition my friend.
Terry, Tara and Hart _ I'm sending you prayers of strength, peace and love.

Rick was not only my brother-in-law but more like another brother to me. He was a kid at heart and do anything to help, listen and give advice of you asked. He was a devoted husband to Terry and a devoted father to Tara. Rick loved being with people. He loved going to Disney. Loved his trains, burgers, chips, ice tea, meatballs and pot roast. Thank you for always being there for me, TJ and Katie for support and guidance. Will always have precious memories of birthdays, picnics and holidays together. You were a Godsent taken away from us before your time was up. Another angel in heaven! You´ll always be in our hearts and your spirit will always be felt.
Love your sister (in-law)
Barbara

My condolences to Terry and Tara and family. Rick was a good friend as well as an excellent Division Chief manager when employed at Fort Monmouth. Rick had that ability to brighten and make you feel good with his smile, positive outlook, his generosity, and his attention to making you important by putting you first. We worked together at Fort Monmouth; his leadership and care for employees made his division a place that was very, very desirable to be part of. Rick´s attention to detail, his care coupled with his likeability made his Division stand out as one of the best.
Mary Anna and I enjoyed our visits and Rick and Terry and visits through the years at our home in Florida, and at Disney Springs and at our grandson´s hockey games. We especially enjoyed Rick´s commentaries and photos updating family activities, his visits to amusement parks, ball games and vacations. The excitement he put into everything would make you feel young again. We will miss Rick and feel so blessed to have had him as a friend.
Bill Lewis

If you could search the dictionary for the term "ultimate good guy" the first name to appear would be Rick Riccelli. I will miss our conversations about our favorite team, the Yankees, and sports in general. Rick could talk to you or anybody about any subject. He was a kid at heart, loved roller coasters and burgers. We bought our first starter set of pickleball paddles together and his first paddle was used forever.
Each day when Debbie watches our local NBC "First Alert" weather forecast she will think fondly of Rick's reference to the "First Watch" restaurant and the good breakfasts we shared.
We will always remember the good time we had with Rick and Terry in Key West.
We will always appreciate the kindness Rick showed to our children.
Rick will be sorely missed...

Rick was an amazing man. Some of my best childhood memories are at Rick's house playing wiffle ball and trains and with the star trek ray guns he gave me before he moved to Florida. I know him and my dad loved being close and talking baseball. He was my favorite uncle/cousin, and such a great father.

I've lost a man who was like a second father to me. A man who was a mentor and, along with my dad, helped me become the man I am today. A man who taught me to not take everything seriously, to be passionate about things, and to always strive to be better. A person who always taught me there are two sides to everything and to always try and look at things from different perspectives.

I Love You Uncle Rick. I'll miss you forever. Say hi to Dad and Mickey Mantle for me.

I still can´t believe that we´ve lost Rick but I need to say a few things about someone who was maybe even more special to me than I´d realized. Rick was as close to a 2nd brother as Joe and I could have had. Rick was special for us. He was `old school´ in the best way possible; the inventor of `napkin baseball´, a game we could play with a balled up napkin in his living room and `hit´ into the stuffed chair (single) off the wall (triple) or over the molding (home run!); we played bunt baseball in my basement; and `grounder to short´ with a `spaldeen´ (likely another Rick invention) on our street. We celebrated holidays together as kids and years later after Mom passed away he and Terry made sure that Joe and I celebrated with them.
We all know of his passion for model trains and we loved to see his latest train room set up and newest find. No one was a bigger Yankees fan or a bigger more loyal Mickey Mantle fan. We talked about sports literally till a week before he passed. No matter how bad he was feeling recently he still found the time and strength to text me about the NY teams´ first football games, and the state of his beloved Yankees. It´s the last text string I have from him and I will cherish it now more then ever!
He was a skilled do-it-yourselfer and loved to fix/install/build/rebuild just about anything. A few years ago I showed him a collection of my dad´s "stuff", mementos I´d kept in a box for decades. I didn´t know what to do with them - he did of course and a few weeks later he´d put together 2 shadow boxes - one for me one for Joe. Now when I look at it on my living room wall I´ll be thinking of Dad and Rick!
If you ever needed a hand with anything, Rick was there - even when you didn´t ask. If he couldn´t do it for you he´d still give you the best advice and instructions. He had a sincere interest in whatever was going on in our lives, no matter how big or small.
And of course we all much I know he cared for and loved Terry and Tara and wherever he is now I know he´ll be watching over them constantly!
But maybe most telling for me is remembering how my mother loved him dearly - and vice versa; I think that´s all anyone needs to know since I think she was one of the best judges of character I´ll ever know. I realize my thoughts are kind of all over the place, but I think that also indicates just how shocking it is to think we won´t see him or talk to him or text with him again. Rick, I just hope you know how blessed we´ve been to have you in our lives and how much we all love you and will miss you. I´ll do my best to remember all the things about you that have made me smile and laugh and just feel a little better thanks to you. Rest in peace cuz - and maybe mom even has some of her meatballs there just for you!! :))

I have so many good memories of Ricky that shaped my childhood. I'm glad Nicholas also got to experience the joy that came with knowing Ricky. Even though they only knew each other a short time, Ricky instantly became Nicholas's idol and he wanted to do everything Rick did. He introduced him to White Castle, shared a love for cars, got him over his fear of rides, and taught him you can turn anything into a toy (even the air pump you store in your car). Don't worry Rick, we'll keep your legacy alive with the next generation!

Janis´s 8th grade graduation

Easter Sunday