Richard (Rick) Allen DiCamillo, 87, of Pinehurst, NC passed away peacefully on April 10, 2024 surrounded by family.
He was born June 10, 1936 in Schenectady, NY to the late Anthony and Mildred Zurek DiCamillo.
Rick attended Mont Pleasant High School in Schenectady making his mark on the track team as a cross country champion, placing first numerous times, voted the top scholastic trackman and named to the 1954 All-America track team. From Mont Pleasant Rick found his way to the University of Notre Dame where he continued setting records as a nationally ranked cross country and long-distance runner. It was at Notre Dame where Rick picked up a golf club for the first time, continuing to play and enjoy the driving range for decades to come. Also while at Notre Dame he took important first steps toward his future, joining the Reserve Officers Training Corp, ROTC, with his sights set on becoming a US Air Force pilot. But first, as fortune would have it, Rick met his bride of 63 years, Joyce Elaine Carhidi DiCamillo, just before departing for pilot training. Rick and Joyce married in February 1959 and soon after were onto their first of many adventures with the US Air Force. Rick served for 20 years on active duty as a pilot, distinguishably defending democracy in Vietnam, earning a silver star, and ultimately serving on active duty at the Pentagon. Rick resigned his active duty commission in 1979 but continued serving his country at the Pentagon with the Department of the Air Force until 1999, retiring to Pinehurst in 2000.
Rick leaves his daughters Tami DiCamillo Zamrazil (Charlie), Terri DiCamillo, Tracey Bell (Eric); four grandchildren, Jessica Erwin (Todd), Paige Bell (Paul), Bryce Anne Huffman (Jimmy), and Morgan Bell; seven great-grandchildren and his beloved fur baby Fyre, all who will dearly miss him. He is also survived by his sisters, Carolyn Silvani, Jean DiCamillo and Melanie Gordon, longtime friend Doug Aiken and dear Pinewild neighbors.
In addition to his beloved wife and parents, he is preceded in death by two brothers, Joseph and Gino DiCamillo and brother in-law, Albert Silvani.
He has been lovingly cared for at home since the passing of Joyce by Donna Lee, Jim Purcell-Abbott, Jayne Van Vooren, Joan Whitt, and Jeannette Kucan. They have been integral to his happiness in Pinewild and we think of them as family.
Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.
Comments