Richard Guerrucci, 95, was born May 10, 1929, in Kenosha, the son of the late Frank and Matilda (Ferranti) Guerrucci. He was a graduate of Mary D. Bradford High School.
He served in the United States Army during the Korean War, entering the service on February 5, 1951, until his honorable discharge on February 8, 1953.
After his discharge, he attended the University of Wisconsin Extension, Kenosha; Los Angeles City College and El Camino College in Redondo Beach, CA.
For 33 years, he worked at Howard Hughes Aircraft Co. in Culver City, CA as Senior Quality Assurance Engineer. Howard Hughes Aircraft Co. motto at the time was “Leader in Technology” and on May 30, 1966, landed the first un-manned “Surveyor Lunar Spacecraft” on the moon. After his retirement in 1989, Richard alternated living in Kenosha during the warmer months and California in the winter. In 2005, he finally returned home permanently to be closer to family and friends. But his love for the West Coast remained. For the last 30 years in California, he lived in a place called Marina del Rey, which was known as the “Poor Man’s Malibu.” Richard always told his friends back here that he lived right close to 5,000 boats and the only one he owned was the one he played with in the tub.
Since he wouldn’t be traveling to his former beach community residence anymore, he did the next best thing and turned a room in his home into what he called “The Nautical Room.” To help create the ocean-like atmosphere, he decorated the room with 21 model lighthouses, two lobster traps, dolls of sea captains, a menagerie of dolphins, eagles, pelicans, and other wildlife. He had a total of 85 lighthouse miniatures throughout the home, along with several more lighthouse calendars and pictures. One of the lighthouses actually lights up and has a recording of a bell ringing to alert a nearby ship. He now had the feeling of being back in the marina until he looked out of his window and saw a foot of snow on the sidewalk.
Richard enjoyed skiing, golfing, biking, and listening to Classical Music. Marina del Rey is one of nine beach communities connected by a 20-mile bike trail from north Pacific Palisade south to Redondo Beach. He especially enjoyed biking in the Santa Monica Mountains with the Pacific Ocean view being the highlight of the trip. Some days he would bike to work using the bike lane that traveled alongside the ocean and think to himself how fortunate he was to have such a beautiful view on the way to work. Richard estimates to have accumulated over 200,000 miles biking. He admired the wonderful planning and building the state of Wisconsin did with their bike trails and he has biked most of them. One stretch connects four trails, totaling 125 miles, starting in Reedsburg, WI and terminating in Winona, MN after crossing the Mississippi River.
Skiing was the most beautiful of sports. Each time Richard arrived at the top of a mountain he would pause for several minutes to scan the breathtaking scenery that surrounded him. He skied most of the ski areas in California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Colorado. His favorite trips were those taken with 225 other skiers on a chartered train called “Snowball Express” from Los Angeles to Sun Valley, with a one hour stop in Las Vegas. The other trip was taken with five others in a motor home for a two-week trip covering eight ski areas in Colorado and Utah.
Golf was the most frustrating of all sports that Richard tried and, though it didn’t love him, he never gave up hope that the two of them could work it out. It didn’t happen.
One of his favorite past times was listening to Classical Music. When Richard, a lifelong bachelor, lived in SoCal, he often attended concerts with his then girlfriend at the famous Hollywood Bowl. In the late 1950s, admission there cost the couple $1.50. They’d bring a bottle of wine and picnic under the stars. They would climb to the top (of the Hollywood Bowl) where they’d get the same music, but it would be twenty minutes before it got up there. You could see all the big names around the shell-reserved sections for Cecil B. DeMille, Gary Cooper and many more big names. His favorite composers were Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. For operas, he enjoyed Donizetti, Rossini and Verde. Unlike Wisconsin, one didn’t have to worry about having the program interrupted by inclement weather. Those concerts were called “Symphony Under the Stars.”
Richard also loved train travel. He traveled the majority of all Amtrak Routes in the U.S. and Canada. One of his trips covered the perimeter of the U.S. with stopovers in seven major cities. This trip totaled 8,440 miles. Another trip he enjoyed was through Canada and the U.S. with stopovers in four Canadian and three major U.S cities. This trip covered a total of 6, 978 miles. His travels took him to 47 of the 48 continental United States, missing only South Dakota and its Mount Rushmore.
Richard always commented how much he missed the California weather, but certainly not the traffic.
Surviving him are his four nieces and one nephew, four godchildren, friends from Mac’s Deli and the Kenosha Hospital Cafeteria Coffee Clubs.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Vincent Guerrucci; and his sister, Lucille LaFayette.
Per Richard’s request, no services were held. Interment took place at St. James Cemetery in Kenosha.