Giving the Gift of an Enduring, Formative Education

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Mary Ricciardello and Douglas Sandvig with her father, Louis Ricciardello ’47

“We said, ‘It’s yours, Dad. Now there will always be a part of you tied to the school,’” Mary Ricciardello shares. In honor of her extraordinary father and his love for Holy Cross, Mary and her husband Doug Sandvig established the Louis Ricciardello ’47 Endowed Scholarship.

Mary and Doug, along with their two adult children, agreed that helping students access a Holy Cross education was the perfect gift for Louis “Lou,” 94. “There’s no doubt that Holy Cross had a really important role in forming who he is,” Doug says.

The youngest of eight born to first-generation immigrants, Lou left his East Boston home to attend Holy Cross at 16. Many of his classmates were veterans returning from World War II. “They took him under their wing,” Doug says. “He just had this intense affection for them and the whole experience.”

At Holy Cross, Lou managed the track team, earning him a varsity letter sweater — a prized possession 70-plus years later. “Because of polio, he couldn’t run, but he’s always loved the sport,” Mary says. (Lou contracted polio as a child in 1929. While it permanently affected his mobility, that surely has not defined him, Mary and Doug agree.) Choosing the scholarship criteria didn’t take Lou long. “He said, ‘I'd like it to go to a student-athlete on the track and field team,’” Mary shares. “He was so certain.”

A beloved teacher, coach (track and field was his favorite) and school administrator, Lou, now retired, cherishes his Jesuit education. 

Lou and his wife Patricia, who passed away in 2016, raised their five children on Long Island, New York. Growing up, Mary says her dad made sure anyone alone for the holidays had a seat at the Ricciardello house at Christmas — a tradition she and Doug have continued at their Houston home, where Lou lives with them. Whether at gatherings in Houston or at their family home in Vermont, people of all generations are drawn to the kind, good-humored presence of Lou. “He has an ability to really connect with people – he’s just an extraordinary man,” Mary says.

“And my dad is the first feminist I ever knew,” adds Mary, a CPA who was the first woman executive at her company and now serves on various corporate boards. “If the boys’ sports teams at his school were getting new uniforms, the girls’ sports teams got new uniforms.”  

Doug, a retired attorney who is active in prison ministry, was excited about establishing the scholarship. "He’s just got this love for the College," Mary chuckles. "It’s not uncommon to walk into his office and find Dad just looking at the school online or reading about it.” Over the years, Lou has volunteered to host alumni gatherings in Houston and interview prospective students. “My dad feels like his education was extraordinary,” she says.

“Not everybody has had the luxury of being able to go to school and come out with no debt,” Mary notes, reflecting on the importance of supporting financial aid. “Buildings will fall, but education — that goes on forever.”

Make a gift today in support of financial aid.