Ruggiero Ricelli was a “Man of Many Jobs”

Ruggiero Ricelli was born in Italy in 1879, and emigrated to Sandusky around 1893. Beginning in 1895, he operated a fruit and confectionery cart at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street in Sandusky. Later he ran a store in the Cooke building, and eventually he set up shop at 119-121 East Market Street.

In the early twentieth century Mr. Ricelli served as an advisor to local residents of Italian descent. He helped them write letters to family members back in Italy, and aided them in understanding business conditions of their new town. In the Erie County Common Pleas Court, he served as an interpreter whenever knowledge of his native language was needed. He also was a Notary Public, and by 1911, he was an agent for several steamship lines which traveled from New York to Italy. For several years, he was president of the American Fruit Company, which was located on Water Street. 

Mr. Ricelli’s first wife was Arcangela Carapetta; they had a son, Orlando C. Ricelli. Dr. O.C. Ricelli was one of the founders of the first Memorial Hospital in Sandusky, along with Dr. Lester Mylander and Dr. Carle Koehler. (Note: in later years, Dr. Orlando C. Ricelli changed the spelling of his surname to Ricely.)  Arcangela Carapetta Ricelli died in 1920 at the age of 32. In 1922, Ruggiero  Ricelli married Minnie Augusta Barnett, and they had two children, John and Jeanne.

Ruggiero  Ricelli died at the age of 66 on September 26, 1945. An obituary for Mr. Ricelli, sometimes spelled Riccelli, appeared in the Sandusky Register Star News on September 26, 1945.