Biagio 'Basil' Ricci
1923 - 2007

Sir Knight Basil served as Grand Knight of Marian Council 3801 for a total of five years, 1962-1963 and again from 1988-1990. He was also a 4th Degree member. He was the 2007 recipient of the Francis Medal, the highest honor the Church bestows upon lay persons in the Franciscan community. He was a supporter of the Passionist Missionaries, and a member of the Wayne Lions Club and Sons of Italy among other organizations.

He was also a longtime trustee on the Chilton Memorial Hospital Foundation Board.

He proudly served his country in WWII from 1942 – 1946. He was a Navy Seabee in the 43rd Naval Construction Battalion, serving in the Aleutians, Hawaii, Saipan, and Nagasaki. He was a member of the American Legion.

Basil was an avid golfer and member of the Rinky Dinks at North Jersey Country Club and a former member of the Fords Colony Country Club in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Basil loved people and talked to everyone – whether strangers, acquaintances or long time friends, he always had time to listen, share, support and inspire. He was a mentor to many and a man of great integrity and generosity. His kind and loving spirit live on in all who were fortunate enough to have known him. The man with the big smile, big voice and even bigger heart left a profound void in our lives, community and this world, but memories of Basil will sustain us and we will smile when we think of him.