Author Archives: Joe

Dad & Joe moved out of our home.. (Fall 1963)

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While I was in high school my father and I moved out of our home for a short period of time during the fall of 1963. (I know the date because Kennedy was assassinated while this was happening.) My father and step-mother Marge were fighting continuously and it came to the point where my Dad thought it was unsafe for us to remain (when Marge threatened him with a kitchen knife).   At the time my brothers were between 4 and 6 years old and didn’t understand what was happening.  So I remember my Dad coming to Woodbridge High (the start of my junior year) and taking me out.  My cousin Dolores and Warren welcomed us into their home with open arms so that’s where we stayed.   My brothers remained at home with Marge.

It  was a difficult time for me and my Dad.  I really missed by brothers and they missed me and their Dad.   I don’t remember how long we stayed with Dolores but it was a month if not longer.     My Dad then decided that we would move in with my grandmother and Aunt Mary who lived upstairs from my home.   I remember my brothers coming upstairs (when Marge allowed them to come) and getting to be together.  It was a difficult time.  This continued for quite some time (several months) before we finally returned to our downstairs home.

But things were never the same.  Before this happened Marge would not let me go my cousin’s house down the street and in other ways “controlled” me.  And I let her to keep the peace.  That ended and I began to spend a lot more time with my Ragucci cousins and aunts and uncles.  In fact it  eventually led to me meeting my future wife Rose through Tony.    God works in strange and mysterious ways….

How we first met ..

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Rose and Joe first met on October 30th, 1965.  Rose was 16 and a junior in High School. Joe was 18 and a freshman in College.   Rose was having a “house-warming” party to celebrate her moving into the upstairs rooms in her home in Colonia.  Her uncle had moved back to Long Island.   Rose invited Joe’s cousin Tony who was her friend but Tony did not drive so he asked his cousin Joe to drive him and stay at the party.   That’s how and where Joe and Rose met – at Rose’s house in Colonia.

Rose’s mother was upset that a “college” kid was coming to the party but was surprised when he turned out to be a skinny quiet Joe.

They started dating shortly after that.  Here is the first photo taken at a New Years Eve party later that year.  The photo was taken by Tony Ragucci….

joe_rose_1965

Giuseppe Ricucci – Early death

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(Recollection of Dominic Ragucci recorded by Joseph)
My father Giuseppe Ricucci died at an early age – (39) in 1923.  He was working on the Railroad under terrible conditions and became sick which turned to pneumonia.   This resulted in his death at home.  His son, Dominic (age 5)  remembers his mother upstairs with his father while his siblings Angelina (age 6), Mary (age 3) and Tony (age 1) were downstairs.   He remembers his mother coming downstairs and saying his father died.  He was told that he now was the “man of the house” at 5 years old.

Aunt and Uncle from Elizabeth

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(Recollection of Joseph Ragucci)

While growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s we would frequently visit the “Aunt and Uncle from Elizabeth”.  That’s how we knew them.  But later I realized that they were Antonio and Maria,  my father’s Aunt and Uncle.  I also realized that they spelled their last name differently – Ricucci – verses our spelling of Ragucci.   (See story on how Ricucci became Ragucci).

The place I most remember is their large home onWestfield Avenue (Rt 28).  They lived downstairs and their daughter Angie lived upstairs with her husband Joe Esposito and my cousin Martha Esposito.  We would always drive to the back of the house and park next to their garage.

They were a typical Italians talking with a Italian accent and always ready with the food and wine.   The “uncle” made his own red wine that was potent!  I found out that he soaked the barrels with alcohol to increase the alcohol content.  They typically added coke to the wine to dilute it.  As I got older I was offered some heavily diluted with soda.

My father said that his uncle didn’t like to work and was constantly out of work.  When I knew them they were retired.   The Aunt was a typical Italian grandmother figure.

Ciaccio, Joseph & Jimmy – Will from hell…

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(Recollections of Joe Ragucci)
Uncle Joe Ciaccio didn’t trust his son Jimmy with money.   Jimmy would spend money like it was water and couldn’t be trusted with it.  That fact plus the fact that he converted to Judiasm made Uncle Joe create a very interesting will with a lawyer from NY City.  My wife Rose (Ciaccio) Ragucci was the executor of the will. 

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Ciaccio, Jimmy – Jewish Connection

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(Recollections of Joe Ragucci)
Little Jimmy was a character from the time I knew him.   Sometime after we were married, Jimmy married Miriam (Falcon) .  Miriam was VERY Jewish but Jimmy was raised Catholic like all his family.   Shortly after they were married Jimmy converted to Judiasm.  The story that I heard was the Miriam’s grandmother had in her will that Miriam would only get her inheritance if she was married to a Jewish man.  So Jimmy converted and the words used within the family for this was “Jesus was given up for 30 pieces of silver but Jimmy gave him up for $3000”.

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Ciaccio, Jimmy – Calls at Midnight

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(Recollections of Joe Ragucci )
Little Jimmy Ciaccio was an interesting character.  He was a chef by trade and thus worked at night and slept during the day.   While he was living in the US, he would call Rose about every other month to talk.  Unfortunately, he would call after he finished work which was sometime after midnight.  Of course, we were asleep at that time but he was wide awake.

Whenever the phone range in the middle of the night we knew it was Jimmy.  Rose would pick up the phone and start listening to him, half asleep.  He would talk for a quite a while – typically more than a half hour.   I couldn’t go back to sleep so I listened to half the conversation.  It was quite an inconvienence but it was the only time they would converse over the phone.

This stopped once he moved to Israel (another story!).

Disney Vacation Remembrances

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As we are about to leave on another Disney World vacation,  it brought up the need to add stories about “memorable” disney vacations like:

  • First visit – “do you think we’ll ever come back?”
    Our first visit to Disney World was in 1972 when we took a vacation touring Florida.  Disney World was in the middle of nowhere and the only hotels where those on the monorail – nothing outside the park.  So we stayed in Orlando which had the closest hotels.  Only the Magic Kingdom existed and we spent a day there.  As we were leaving Rose commented “Do you think we’ll ever come back?”  Well, that was an understatement as we are a frequent visitor now!
  • Rosalie & John Engagement (and the dropped ring in garage)
  • John in the wheelchair going on Disney Cruise –
  • Disney visits with Mom
  • Disney visit with Rosalie’s college friends
  • Ben and the pool slide