Emilio Richard DiCola

Our family lost our loving father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Emilio Richard "Junior" DiCola, on Saturday, November 15th, 2025. He passed away at home, in his sleep, at the age of 85. He will be remembered as a loving patriarch with a generous spirit.

He was born in Hiller, Pennsylvania on September 28th, 1940. After eloping with the love of his life, Marlene, at the age of 19, he spent the rest of his life in Northern Virginia. He started with small jobs like running seasonal stands. He sold Christmas trees, fireworks for the Fourth of July, pumpkins for Halloween, and even vegetables he grew from a community garden. Home gardening became a hobby for him that he continued the rest of his life.

He began his firefighting career with the City of Alexandria Fire Department in 1964 and was hired by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department in 1965. His fire department career included assignments in Franconia, Dunn Loring, Burke, Springfield, Seven Corners, and ended as Station Captain in Merrifield in 1987. He was very dedicated and committed to his work and always spoke of his years with the fire department with fondness. He told everyone who he met that it was the "best job in the world".

In 1977, he and his wife Marlene opened Marlene's Cake and Party Supplies. In 1988, he opened a Dairy Queen and worked open to close every day while simultaneously working at Marlene's. He enjoyed going on vacations, especially with members of his family. He loved the company of his children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His later years were spent at home with his lovely wife.

He always enjoyed having his family come over to visit especially over the summer and holidays when he could cook large meals or barbeque outside. Junior and Marlene were the proud parents of four children and worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for those children and their families. Junior loved his wife and family and was known to make their holidays special, especially by decorating at Christmastime. He was always so proud to put up more lights than anyone in the neighborhood and to see families come from all over to enjoy his display. Junior was a devout Catholic who prayed the rosary and watched mass daily. He participated in the March for Life for decades and volunteered at Divine Mercy.

Junior is survived by his 4 children, Denise Unciano, Pam Franklin, David DiCola, and Sheri Kempton, his 16 grandchildren, his 19 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation and Myannas Heart Totes nonprofit organization.