Funeral Information

Richard Matthew Ricca, celebrated Bocce Ball champion, shuffled off this mortal coil on September 22nd, concluding an adventure that spanned eight decades and several continents.

Rich lived many lives in his eighty-two years. He was a police detective in New York, a rancher in Cebu, an investigator in Manila, a realtor in Florida, a security expert in California, and, lastly, a man of leisure in Florida (before a brief final stint in Connecticut).

He is survived (and missed) by his three loving children, Michael, Samantha, and Katrina, as well as his older sister, Judy, and an intricate model Cutty Sark he spent years building.

He was preceded into the Great Beyond by his parents, Ed and Jeanette, and his wife of twenty-five years, Ruby, whom he lost in 2021.

Rich was a mensch in the truest sense of the word. Incredibly generous of spirit, he believed a life of service was the ultimate calling and showed it every day. Almost twenty years of his early adulthood were spent serving the people of New York as a police officer, and over twenty years of his late life were spent serving the people of his community—particularly families in need—through his work with the local chapter of Saint Vincent de Paul, where he was an originating member, active volunteer, and sometime-Vice President. And in-between the two periods he did his longest stint of thankless service as a father of three, a job that sent him across the globe. Twice.

He was the consummate do-it-yourselfer and handy man. In 1974, when his father-in-law shipped gifts from the Philippines in a wooden crate, Rich took the crate apart and used the Narra wood to build a toy chest his son still uses (and cherishes) fifty years later. Whether driven by creativity, stubbornness, frugality, or a mix of all three, there were few problems Rich wouldn’t try to solve himself, first. He once spent a full day fixing a 30-year-old microwave anyone else would’ve replaced for $25.

Rich was a man of principle and quiet responsibility. In tropical Cebu, he would spend hours a day picking dozens of ticks, one by one, from dogs he never wanted in the first place but cared for because his family loved them. He was the guy wordlessly cleaning up after the party he didn’t ask for. If something needed doing, he did it.

He had a deep respect for tradition, both cultural and personal. You couldn’t count how many of his Sundays began with matzoh pancakes and church, and ended with spaghetti & meatballs and TV. It’s thanks to his traditionalism that the family meatball recipe (among others) lives on in the kitchens of his kids.

In his life, Rich loved and wed three women: Donna, his high school sweetheart, taught him about the world; Mitos, the mother of his children, showed him what was on its other side; Ruby, who gave him a quarter-century of happiness and adventure, explored it with him.

He could be a bit of a wise ass, with a quip or crack at the ready. It was how he showed he cared. That he was paying attention. It was that sharp wit that always had you on your toes, not quite sure if he was serious or breakin your balls.

He adored muzak. Orchestral and instrumental covers of easy listening songs more likely found in an elevator than a car. The Pina Colada song, but make it marimba. He said lyrics were just distracting. It was all he listened to in his car, much to his children’s chagrin. It doesn’t sound so bad, now.

Though his last few months were spent in Connecticut, Rich had moved there after living a quarter-century in the Tampa area. He was a dyed-in-the-wool Floridian who thought 65º was cold, faithfully rooted for the Bucs and the Rays, and ran his errands in a golf cart.

He was a Florida Man. It’s there that he has his people, and it’s there that his memorial service will be held on January 24, 2026 at 10:30am at the Prince of Peace church in Sun City Center.

Rich Ricca was a good man who gave far, far more than he ever asked for. He is dearly, deeply missed.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks you consider donating to St. Vincent de Paul, the outreach and charity organization Rich gave so many years to.