Leonard Riccio and “famiglia”

Tribute to Dad

For whom “famiglia” meant everything

By David Riccio

(Leonard Riccio died from gastric cancer that was treated, thought to be fully removed, and was later found to have metasticized into an inoperable tumor in his brain)

For dad, “famiglia” was everything. But the irony was that as an independent CPA he often worked late into the night in his attic study or on weekends, so we often did not see much of him, especially during the tax season. What I eventually came to realize was that, coming of age in the depression, being a good provider was central to his notion of what family meant. Providing for his family also meant that his sons should be able to go to college and enjoy some of the extracurricular life in a way that he could not when he was working his way through Middlebury.

Perhaps one of Dads most salient traits was integrity. He was absolutely a man of his word. When he billed clients for hours spent on an audit, that time did NOT include any coffee breaks, not even 10 minute ones! It was not by accident that he was regularly chosen to be the independent auditor of various cities in NH, where his job was to “audit the auditors”.

With affection, my brothers and I often called our father “the Old Man”, and not behind his back. We might say something like “How are things going, Old Man?”, or to our mother, “the Old Man is home”. We used it as a Navy term that referred to the Captain of the ship and was a mark of respect. For us, he truly was the Captain.

Click here to find out how you can help honor the memory of the Captain and all those fighting (and in memory of those lost in the fight) against cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

The Old Man (opens picture in new window)

Navigation

Leonard Riccio and “famiglia”

For whom “famiglia” meant everything

Read more from Tributes...

Feedback Form

Tributes

Blog