VOORHEESVILLE — Michael A. Ricci was a giver. The owner of Ricci’s Market, an old-time grocery store, he put off charging customers that couldn’t pay, delivered food to the elderly, and opened his store off hours whenever someone needed it.

His store was a community meeting place, a market for ideas as well as food. A Republican, Mr. Ricci served for years in the county legislature, listening to people from all points on the political spectrum.

He also gave as an Army medic, serving during World War II, and willing to donate blood at a moment’s notice forever after.

Most of all, he gave to his family — fighting to have his deaf son educated in public school and raising a daughter who said, “He always gave the gift of life — always.”

Mr. Ricci died on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, in his beloved village of Voorheesville, in the same house where he was born 91 years go. His loving family was by his side.

“When you walked into my dad’s store or called my dad’s store, he would say, ‘Beautiful downtown Voorheesville, Ricci’s Market,’” said his daughter, Christina Decker. “That’s something people remember.” His store was on South Main Street in Voorheesville.

The son of Charles and Rose Ricci, Michael was born on July 13, 1927, in Voorheesville. Charles Ricci owned two Ricci’s Markets, Mrs. Decker said, one in Voorheesville, the other in Altamont. Mrs. Ricci worked in the stores as well.

Mr. Ricci entered Clarkson University when he was just 16 years old, his daughter said. But he returned home after his father died, and “became the patriarch of the family,” Mrs. Decker said.

When World War II broke out, Mr. Ricci tried to join the Army to fight, but he had vision problems, his daughter said; instead, he would become an Army medic.

“My dad always gave blood,” Mrs. Decker said.

As an Army medic, he saw firsthand its importance. “He always gave the gift of life — always,” Mrs. Decker said.

“The Red Cross would call him all the time and say, “We need blood.’ And he would, in a heartbeat, go in and give,” she said.

Mr. Ricci came home to Ricci’s Market, where jokes and stories were always in stock. “People loved that; and that he would say crazy stuff,” Mrs. Decker said.

Her father sold penny candy, she said, and kids would come in with 25 cents and walk out with a bag full of candy. “He would say to the kids, ‘That’s a quarter, but for you I’ll take two dimes and a nickel,” Mrs. Decker said.

People would stop her, she recalled, and say, “I remember your dad saying, ‘Do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?’ and answering ‘Not if it’s in cans.’”

“He always had stories to tell,” Mrs. Decker said.

Her favorite story was the time when a rival grocer had a woman come into his store and asked for “optional nuts.” The woman was baking brownies and the recipe called for optional nuts, as in: Use nuts if you prefer.

The woman had been to every store in the area, and couldn’t find “optional nuts.”

The rival grocer told the woman that Mike Ricci had  “optional nuts.”

“Don’t let him tell you that he doesn’t,” Mrs. Decker said, recounting the story.

“The lady is yelling at my dad,” Mrs. Decker said laughing, claiming that he had “optional nuts.”

“This is what I remember of my dad,” Mrs. Decker said, “when the store closed at night and someone called, and said, ‘Hey, Mike, I need a gallon of milk.’ My dad would always open the store no matter what — no matter what,” Mrs. Decker said.

Mr. Ricci would also deliver groceries to elderly customers who could no longer make the trip to his market, his daughter said, or if a customer couldn’t pay for groceries, he’d say, “Pay me later.”

“It didn’t matter what time it was, if people knocked on the door or people called, he’d still answer the phone: ‘Beautiful downtown Voorheesville, Ricci’s,’” she said.

It was in Voorheesville where Mr. Ricci met his wife and fell in love, Mrs. Decker said.

Mr. Ricci’s reputation as a grocer was well-known.

Nichols Market, Mrs. Decker said, had asked her father to be its “meat ambassador.” And he had been on the cover of a Price Chopper circular, with the title: “The butcher, the baker, the remedy maker.” Mr. Ricci was the butcher.

“He was very jovial; very personable,” Mrs. Decker said of her father. “People liked his personality; he was always happy.”

He was also a fervent advocate for his children, she said.

“My brother Charlie is deaf,” she said, and their father “was very passionate” that her brother be included in a traditional classroom.

“This was the 1960s,” she said, and, at that time, children with a disability were expected to go elsewhere to receive an education.

“He fought for my brother to be educated,” Mrs. Decker said, noting that her father was ahead of his time advocating that students with disabilities be included in the classroom.

Mr. Ricci had been a long-time member of the Albany County Legislator.

As a Republican, he sought to keep taxes low and the government out of people’s daily life as much as possible, his family said.

“I think everybody would come in [to Ricci’s Market] and talk politics with my dad,” said Mrs. Decker; whether a Republican or a Democrat, they would come into the market to talk shop.

“He was very passionate about his politics,” Mrs. Decker said her father wanted only the best for Voorheesville and Albany County.

Mr. Ricci was also very active in the Voorheesville community.

He had been a school-bus driver, volunteer firefighter, and a member of both the Elks and Kiwanis clubs .

“He was a member of the American Legion where one of his roles was as Santa Claus in the annual Christmas party,” his family wrote in a tribute.

Mr. Ricci was also a member of the Voorheesville Rod and Gun Club, and a Charter member of the Pine Haven Country Club.

“During his remarkable life, he saw the ‘perfect game’ pitched at Yankee Stadium in the 1956 World Series; he attended many of the Daytona 500 races,” his family wrote in a tribute.  

Mr. Ricci enjoyed taking his family to Cape Cod for vacations, and he “realized his life dream of returning to his family roots in his trips to Italy,” his family wrote.

Mrs. Decker added that her father spent an entire summer in Bermuda, where her brother was living.  

He was a “crossword enthusiast,” his family wrote, as well as a pinochle player and scuba diver.

“He had a passion for pinochle,” Mrs. Decker said of her father’s affinity for the card game.

“He led a remarkable life,” Mrs. Decker concluded of her father. “People always came to me and said, ‘What a great dad you have.’”

“He was very jovial,” she added.

He was a kind, patient soul.

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Michael Ricci is survived by his children, Kevin Garrity and his wife, Mary, of Voorheesville; Charles Ricci of Summit, New York; Michael Ricci and his wife, Bessy, of Greenwich, Connecticut; and Christina Decker and her husband, Dean, of Voorheesville.

He is also survived by his grandchildren, Patrick and Caitlin Garrity, Michelee Decker, George and Konstantinos Petrides, and Michael Ricci, as well as many nieces and nephews.

His wife, Jean, died before him, as did his parents.

Calling hours are Thursday, Nov. 8, from 4 to 8 p.m., at Saint Matthew’s Church, at 25 Mountainview St. in Voorheesville. The funeral service is Friday, Nov. 9, at 10 a.m., at Saint Matthew’s Church. Burial will be in the New Scotland Cemetery.

The family expresses special gratitude to his nurses and aids — Jessica, Mary, Cody, and Ashanti — who took such wonderful care of him, and, especially, to Mary Grace Cossac, his niece and loving caregiver.

Memorial contributions may be made to the New Scotland Community Food Pantry, Post Office Box 355, Voorheesville, New York 12186.

— Sean Mulkerrin