Petrucelli, Ralph

Description

We have two Ralph Petrucelli’s who might be the veteran on the Rye NY WWII Honor Roll. Below are brief bio’s on each.

 

Ralph G Petrucelli was born on January 12, 1926, in Port Chester, New York, to Gaetano Petruccelli, age 39. He was raised and educated in Rye and a 1944 graduate of Rye High School.

Ralph registered for the draft on January 12, 1944 per his draft card. He also has a Korean Era draft card that says for whatever reason he was rejected from service in the Winter of 1944. This leads us to believe he might not be our veteran. Also below is his obituary from 2010 that make no mention of military service, which is a rarity for veterans.

RALPH PETRUCELLI Obituary
Ralph G. Petrucelli, Sr. a resident of Port Chester died July 15, 2010. He was 84 and was born January 12, 1926 in Rye, NY to the late Gaetano and Anita Roberto Petrucelli. He was raised and educated in Rye, NY graduating from Rye High School in 1944. He graduated from Westchester Community College in 1963 with a degree in Mechanical Technology. Mr. Petrucelli was married December 5, 1954 to Anna DiMarco at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the Bronx. Mrs. Petrucelli died January 7, 2006. He began his career as an engineer for the Homelite Co. a division of Textron Inc. in Byram, CT. He later was a special project engineer for Consumer Reports Magazine in Yonkers, NY. He was also a registered representative for First Investors Corp in Scarsdale, NY. Mr. Petrucelli was a parishioner of the Our Lady of Mercy Church in Port Chester, was a member of the Newspaper Guild of New York and was a member of the Port Chester Seniors Center. Mr. Petrucelli is survived by his son Ralph G. Petrucelli, Jr. and his wife Cecilia of Katonah, NY., daughters Laura Teplitz and husband Brian of Centerport, NY. and Carol Ann Petrucelli of Garrison, NY. sisters Carmela Calandrillo of Rye, NY., and Susan “Sue” Malaterra of Greenwich, CT; grandchildren Mark Teplitz, Kimberly Teplitz, Noah Petrucelli and Jason Petrucelli. Visitation will be 4-8PM on Sunday July 18, 2010 at Craft Memorial Home, Inc. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10AM on Monday July 19, 2010 at Our Lady of Mercy Church 260 Westchester Ave. Port Chester, NY. Interment to follow at Saint Mary’s Cemetery Rye Brook, NY. CRAFT MEMORIAL HOME, INC. 40 Leicester St. Port Chester, NY (914) 939-0131

 

Ralph P. Petrucelli was born November 6, 1915 in Rye to John and Mary Inglese Petrucelli. Ralph attended Rye schools and was one of a family of nine children. In Rye his family lived at 224 Central Ave. His family were parishioners of the Church of the Resurrection.

Ralph P. had four brothers who served Daniel J., Thomas R., Leonard F. and John R., all served in the US Army except Thomas who served in the Air Force.

Although we have his draft card, we cannot be certain of his branch of service, most likely US Army.

We do know that Ralph P. was involved in various sports through the Rye YMCA both before and after the war and was a member of it’s Pioneer Club. He was also active in the Community Chest and Red Cross.

We believe that he was a long time custodian at Rye High School per the below snippet from a 1967 article in the Rye Chronicle.

Ralph Petrucelli was permanently
appointed as a custodian at the high
school after the board accepted his
resignation as head custodial
there. Dr. Anthony Campo, assistant superintendent of schools, explained that Mr. Petrucelli preferred not to be head custodian because the hours conflicted with his
schedule.

We know little else about Ralph P except that thru his fathers 1960 obituary he was living in Port Chester and later thru his brothers obituaries he was living in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. We have been unable to find any marriage records or obituaries for him.

Ralph P. Petrucelli died September 12, 2003

As of 12/5/2025 we have no further information on this veteran.