JERSEY CITY AND BEYOND — Hundreds of mourners including various Jersey City and Hudson County public officials came out on Monday to pay their final respects to the late Tom Fricchione, who passed away on Dec. 22 at his Jersey City home from natural causes at the age of 64.
Fricchione was well known as a two-term city councilman, first in Ward A from 1981-1985 and then in Ward B in 1985-1989 after his district was redrawn.
He was also a former administrator, guidance counselor, and teacher in the Jersey City school system for over 30 years, retiring in 2002. More recently, he was the assistant director for the Hudson County Department of Corrections.
Fricchione was remembered at a Monday morning funeral mass at St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church in Jersey City where family and friends gathered to hear the eulogies given by his brother Dr. Donald Fricchione and his daughter Cheryl, who in tears gave a top-10 list of lessons her father passed down to her and everyone who had ever crossed paths with him during his life.
“Lesson number one – laugh when you can, even laugh at yourself,” said Cheryl Fricchione of her father, whom she recalled as someone who was always ready with a one-liner. “I think he would have wanted us to not be sad, but to have a smile on our faces.” – RK