HUNDREDS GATHER FOR VIGIL
Friends, family celebrate life of Ricky Unwin at evening vigil
WOONSOCKET – He died of injuries he suffered in a single car accident on Route 146 north Tuesday morning, but it was how Ricky Unwin lived – as an active member of his community and a family man – that a large crowd of his family and friends remembered at Barry Field Friday night.
The vigil was arranged to help not only his family to cope with his sudden loss but also so many others, who said they knew him from his big way of living and involvement in the community he grew up in and drew from for his own success.
He was a star Villa Novan athlete for Woonsocket High School and he went on a career in biotechnology, working as a sterile process technician for the University of Massachusetts Medical Center up Route 146 in Worcester.
As Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt arrived to join the crowd of hundreds of Villa Novans, Unwin’s friends, and his family out on Woonsocket’s high school’s main athletic field, she told members of the media the gathering was intended to help Unwin’s family.
“Ricky and his family are a family that has been very involved with his community,” Baldelli-Hunt said. “And we just had our Autumnfest last weekend and the Unwins were there and they were with a lot of people from within this community so a lot of people had just seen him, Ricky and his wife (Jillian), so hearing this news has been just disturbing for the community and we are all just taken back by this tragedy,” Baldelli-Hunt said.
Unwin had many roles that made him a part of the community, playing for the high school’s teams before he graduated in 1994 and then as a youth
leagues coach and mentor, according to the mayor.
“He was a coach, he was a friend and he was just someone that was very involved, so he had a huge impact,” she said. Many people in the city knew Ricky, Baldelli-Hunt said. “And we just never imagined that we would be here today having a candlelight vigil for him,” she added.
Showing support for his family on Friday was important, but Baldelli-Hunt said Jillian, his two sons, Jarrek and Caden, and the rest of his family would need continuing support as time goes on.
“We all know that it is the days ahead that are going to be very challenging for them,” she said. The display Friday night of “the overwhelming love and support and friendship that they have for Ricky,” would help, she said. “And I’m sure a lot of these people will remember Jill and the two boys in the days ahead. And those are the days coming, that we need to make sure that we continue to reach out to the family to give them the support that they need,” she said.
Unwin’s best friend from growing up in the city, Anthony DiChristofaro served as spokesman for the vigil and was joined by his brother, John DiChristofaro, Unwin’s cousin, Dave Morgan, and others in telling the crowd what they knew of Unwin, his dedication to his city and its young people, his love for his family, his funny quirks, and his big heart.
“I just wanted to extend our deepest gratitude toward everyone,” Anthony DiChristofaro said as he started off his remarks, remarks that would be broken often by emotion, and thanked the crowd for showing up for his friend.
“The outpouring has been absolutely amazing and it goes to show what a wonderful community Woonsocket really is,” DiChristofaro said.
“Just look at the size of this crowd.... Once again Ricky is bringing us all together. It really goes to show what a great friend, caring father and loving husband he truly was,” DiChristofaro said.
“Ricky was also a very kind soul, always extending a hand to those in need. Offering up a meal or a place to stay to his sons’ friends or teammates,” he said.
“He was a real community leader that was very active with the youth sports leagues in our community as a coach and a mentor, showing them all how to behave with respect for one another while having fun doing it,” DiChristofaro said.
After a game, he said Ricky would often cook a meal for the kids that had played. “He really enjoyed making meals for his friends and his family and he loved eating them up,” DiChristofaro said.
He also talked about the outpouring of support that that family has experienced after Unwin died at UMass Medical Center Wednesday evening.
“Jill and his family cannot thank you enough for all of the donations coming to the Go Fund Me page I set up in his honor,” he said. “Within the first 24 hours of me setting this up we raised over $25,000 for the family in their time of need,” DiChristofaro said to whoops and cheers from the crowd.
Of his lifelong friend, and his “go to friend,” DiChristofaro said Ricky would want to know something about him. “Ricky would want you to know something very important. In Ricky’s senior year of high school 1994, he led the state in scoring for hockey and also was a first team all-state that year and a state champion in 1992. Truly a tremendous athlete,” DiChristofaro said while drawing laughter over what would likely have been Unwin boasts about his high school career.
“Seriously friends, I can’t thank you enough for the outpouring and support of the last few days. For this very deserving family, please pray for Jill and the kids going forward. Ricky, the whole world knows what we’ve always known, you were a great friend a great father and great husband. It was my pleasure being your friend. Rest in Peace brother,” DiChristofaro while concluding his remarks.
Morgan, also looked to the crowd in telling what he knew of Unwin. “As I look around everywhere, this is Ricky right here, everyone gathered together. The smile, that was my favorite part about him, it didn’t matter where he was, it did not matter, there was a smile and it was contagious,” he said of his cousin.