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Richard M. Petraglia
November 04, 2019

Obituary


Richard M. Petraglia, of Malden, passed away on November 4, 2019. He was 64 years old.

Richard was the son of the late Ralph and Grace (Marra) Petraglia and brother of Ann Gilbert and her husband Larry and the late Ralph and his late wife Dianne.
Rich grew up in Winthrop and moved to Malden at age 13 where he met the love of his life, Georgette (Carrozza) Petraglia at Malden High School. They married and bought a house in Malden which Rich personally built into Georgette's dream home.
Rich and Georgette expanded their family with daughters Marisa and Jonelle and son Brian. As an avid singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist, Rich would often fill the home with music throughout their childhood. The family enjoyed camping, sports, and just being together. Rich was also a Cub Scout leader, as well youth soccer coach and board member in Malden.

Marisa married a fellow Emerson College student, Scott Morello and they extended the family with Rich's first grandchild, Tyler. Jonelle married Alessandro Goncalves and added two more grandchildren, Rylan and Brinley. Rich beamed when he was able to spend time with his family, especially his grandchildren.

Though they were cheering for different teams, Rich and Brian had a special bond over football. The peak of this bonding was the Super Bowl with each of their teams, Atlanta and New England.
Rich started out as a carpenter at Emerson College in Boston and eventually rose to Associate Director of Facilities Management, responsible for all of Emerson's buildings over his 33 year career.
Though he was a trained finish carpenter, Rich's trade skills were well beyond that training. He could do it all and didn't hesitate to help his family and friends when needed. Rich's work can be seen in many homes around the city, as well as theaters.
In his free time, Rich enjoyed golfing, campfires and spending time with his friends. He could often be seen riding around on his custom wheelchair-accessible motorcycle with his motorcycle friends, collectively known as “The Wild Dogs”.
Rich is also survived by his dog, My Boy Finnegan.
All the way to the end, Rich was a fighter – enduring the toughest of battles and truly showing the meaning of the words “courage” and “strength”. His motto was “Never Give Up” and he truly never did.
He will be missed by so many, but we were lucky to have him.
Funeral service will be held at the A. J. Spadafora Funeral Home 865 Main Street, Malden on Friday Nov. 8th at 10:00am. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours will be held at the funeral home on Thursday from 4-8pm. Interment will be in Forest Dale Cemetery, Malden.

In lieu of flowers donations in Richard’s memory may be made to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital for Spinal Cord Injury, 300 1st Ave., Boston, MA 02129. For directions & guestbook www.spadaforafuneral.com

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Spadafora Funeral Home
865 Main Street
Malden, MA 02148
781-324-8680