Author Archives: Joe

St. John Vianney Spirit Award – Rose & Joe

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Rose and Joe were awarded an service award from out parish last evening. It was great honor because we have served for 40 years in a large number of ministries. Here is the talk that Rosalie gave at that event:

Spirit Award Presentation..

Good evening. My name is Rosalie Cook, and it is my great pleasure to introduce my parents for tonight’s St. John Vianney Spirit Award. 
You may know my dad as Deacon Joe, with his joy-filled smile on the altar. From serving at Sunday mass to leading Lenten Stations of the Cross, to acting as Master of Ceremonies for the Holy Week liturgies, Deacon Joe always brings his unique joy and enthusiasm to brighten our church.
Perhaps Deacon Joe officiated at your wedding or baptized your baby.  Since his ordination 31 years ago in 1994, Deacon Joe has performed countless weddings, baptisms, and wake services to journey through life with your families at SJV.   
You may know my mom Rose from her many years as a CCD teacher, bringing her expertise from a lifetime of teaching 2nd grade in Woodbridge public schools to the children of SJV.  She adored her little 7-year-olds, and especially loved helping them receive their first communion.
Maybe you served with Rose during her many years as a Eucharist minister. Rose even became the leader of the Eucharist ministers, responsible for training and coordinating schedules.
Maybe you are one of hundreds of couples that met with Rose and Joe to prepare for your upcoming wedding. Together, they dedicated many weekends to the PreCana marriage prep program, sharing their spirituality with young couples.  Building on their years of PreCana, Rose introduced the FOCCUS program to personally coach couples preparing for marriage. She loved meeting with couples, and she had a gift for listening compassionately to their stories and helping them overcome obstacles before marriage. 
Perhaps you are one of over 200 people who attended Rose and Joe’s adult faith formation and bible study classes over 15 years.  Deacon Joe’s diaconate formation included 4 years of theology coursework at St. Elizabeth’s College, which sparked his passion for helping others to understand our Catholic faith.   Similarly, Rose participated in the diocesan Partners in Ministry program in 2001 and later, when Rose retired from teaching, she earned her certificate in Parish Life Ministry from St. Elizabeth’s college in 2010. Together, Rose and Joe brought their love for our Catholic faith to the people of SJV.  For many years, they hosted over 20 different series of adult faith classes including “A Quick Journey Through the Bible” or specialized studies like “The Gospel of Matthew”.
Maybe you attended RCIA with Rose & Joe, where they brought their adult faith formation to candidates entering Catholicism. Or perhaps you remember Rose and Joe from their years of leading the Decision Point program to inspire our 8th grade CCD students to understand and live their Catholic faith. 
When you think of Deacon Joe, maybe you think of him managing the technology in the school or rectory.  Bringing his expertise from his electrical engineering degree and career as a computer expert, Deacon Joe has dedicated countless hours of engineering & tech support to SJV.  From managing the network, the church bell system, and the security cameras, to fixing computers, building our first website, and still acting as webmaster to this day, Deacon Joe has been essential to the technology at SJV. Over the years, he has literally saved the parish hundreds of thousands of dollars by providing free tech support. Technology combines his profound love for his craft and dedication to serving his parish.
As soon as you enter the gathering area of SJV Church, you feel the impact that Deacon Joe and Rose have had on SJV.  Have you ever explored the parish library that they introduced and still coordinate today?  Did you know that Deacon Joe and his father built the beautiful wooden stand for the Last Supper wooden sculpture? Have you ever read the news on the TV screen? Did you know that Deacon Joe does that? 
And he is still working behind the scenes to make SJV financially successful.  Have you signed up for Online Giving? Deacon Joe introduced that technology and still manages it today.  Deacon Joe sits on the parish finance committee, managing the parish and school annual budgets and reporting at finance meetings.
Honestly, my parents have done so many different things for SJV over the past 40 years, that it would have been faster to list the things that they hadn’t done!

This may be how you think of my parents, Deacon Joe and Rose, but here’s what I see.
They are better together. 
Since the day they got married at St John Vianney over 55 years ago, they have dedicated their lives to using their unique gifts and talents to serving God. They do everything as a couple. My dad Joe’s analytic and logical approach complements my mom Rose’s intuitive and people-oriented approach. Their love for each other shines through in everything that they do.
Combining their unique gifts, they have inspired so many SJV parishioners throughout their phenomenal 40 years of service. They have dedicated their lives to learning about our faith and serving God and his people, and their Catholic faith truly comes alive in their service to our church.
They embody the words that my dad says at the end of each mass – “go forth to love and serve the Lord and each other.”  Together, they are a powerful team in bringing the message of God’s love to the people of our parish, through their love for each other.

It is my honor to introduce the greatest inspiration in my life, my amazing parents, Deacon Joe and Rose Ragucci. 

Ricucci, Grace and Giuseppe – Early years in America

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(Continuing “Coming to America” post)
This post tries to summarize the first few years in America. 

Giuseppe Ricucci married Grazia Tomaiula in Monte S’Angelo on Jan 30th, 1910.  Their first child named Domenico was born and died in 1912 in Monte S’Angelo.  On May 30th, 1914 Giuseppe traveled to NY with his younger brother Anthonio to find work and joined his brother Matteo who had come earlier.  He left his wife Grace in Monte Sant’Angelo.  He first went to Yonkers and finally found work in Derby, Connecticut.  He was able to send money for Grace to join him and she arrived 2 years later in December 1916. 

Unfortunately, Giuseppe Ricucci died at an early age – (39) in 1923.  He was working on the railroad in Port Reading, NJ under terrible conditions and became sick which turned to pneumonia.   He left his wife Grace, who could not speak English, with 4 young children – Angelina (age 6), Dominic (age 5), Mary (age 3) and Anthony (age 1).   My father Dominic was told that he now was the “man of the house” at 5 years old.  Fortunately, there were many Italian families in Port Reading who were able to support them although they were very poor with no working members of the family until first Angelina and then Dominic were old enough to find work in the area.

Michael Kushlyk’s – Story of Last Name

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I have a login to Ancestry.com and received a “hint” about Uncle Mike Kushlyk that made me check the census records for him.  I was always confused when we visited with Aunt Ann and Uncle Mike in the Bronx because we called his mother that lived with them as “Mrs. Peterson” and his brother who lived upstairs was Joseph Peterson. So why was his last name “Kushlyk”?  I found this was very confusing but with sufficient searching this week it is an interesting story that I wanted to share with you…

Michael-Kushlyk-Census-Records-Updated-1Download

Benjamin Cook Graduation

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Ben graduated from Union Catholic High School this week with honors. He wore the National Honor Society cape, and 2 ribbons from National Spanish Honor Society, and Peer Ministry. At the graduation ceremony they awarded metals for several areas of excellence. Ben was awarded 3 of those metals for Engineering, Music, and Religion. He worked so hard all through High School and it shows. Good luck at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the fall.

Benjamin going to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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Benjamin has accepted going to RPI for college in the fall. He applied to 11 colleges and was accept to all of them. Last fall he was awarded the Rensselaer Metal, a scholarship worth $40,000 for up to 5 years at RPI. He was impressed by RPI for several reasons including that he felt comfortable with the program and the students he observed on campus. Rensselaer is in Troy, NY outside of Albany. He is entering the Aeronautical Engineering program which is a specialized Mechanical Engineering option.

Facebook Post on Dom Ragucci Dementia

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Facebook Post – Nov 3, 2012   –  Dom Ragucci Dementia

“My Dad has been with Rose and I since Wednesday when our power came on. His home is still without power. Spending all this time together gives us a real appreciation of what happens to your mind at 94 years old. He has a difficult time making connections between people and relationships even within his own family. It’s tough to see what time is doing to this vibrant man who could do anything. We are using pictures to try and help him understand. He knows what’s happening to himself and keeps trying to understand but can’t change it. Fortunately, it is not upsetting to him, just confusing. We pray that God will be kind to him in the years he has left.”

[Note; Dom passed away almost exactly 3 years later on Nov 21, 2015 from Dementia.]

Joe Ragucci

Disney Mediterranean Cruise – 2023

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We just completed a cruise of the Mediterranean on the Disney Dream ship with Rose, Joe, Rosalie, John and Ben. The traveling to Europe was a disaster for all of us due to canceled flight and long delays. We will never forget the troubles we encountered getting to Europe or back but it all worked out in the end.

Rose, John, and Ben started the vacation with 3 days in Paris and 1 day in Barcelona. Since Rosalie had been in Paris many times for work, she was able to guide them with a great time visiting Paris. They then spent a day in Barcelona.

Rose and I met them on the cruise ship after that and spent 7 days on the ship. The ship skipped the first port in the French Rivera due to a medical emergency on the ship so our first stop was in Italy. The cruise is a great way to get a quick view of the area but since the cruise ports are so far from the cities we visited it was no more than that. Also, the crowds made it impossible to visit most of the buildings due to long lines so we experienced the cities from the outside only – a real disappointment.

All of us visited Florence but it was so hot and humid that Rose and I decided to use the on-off bus rather than all the walking the the Cooks experienced. We did meet for lunch but then back on the bus. After that, Rose and I decided to stay on the ship for the next 2 ports – Sorrento/Amalfi and Rome while the Cooks took excursions. Rose and I had been to all these places on Tauck tours so it wasn’t an issue.

We all enjoyed the time on the ship with great food and the “disney” experience on board. Overall, a mixed vacation for us having experienced this same cruise in 2007 without all the crowds or heat and without the air travel troubles. Rose and I consider this our last trip to Europe but we encourage Rosalie, John, and Ben to experience Italy with Tauck tours to see more with a high-end experienced travel company.