Anthony L. Barricelli

Veteran Science Educator, 75, Dies

Anthony L. Barricelli, 75, of Valley Stream, NY, died on April 27, 2024. Son of Joseph(d. 1978) and Mary Ann(d. 1970);father of Thomas and Daniel;brother of Peter(Sandra), Joseph(d. 2020), Louis(Irene), Michael(d. 2012), John, Paul, and Robert. Also a loving cousin, uncle, and friend, Anthony was a scientist with a poetic soul.

As chair of the Science Department at St. Francis Prep, where he taught for almost 40 years, he introduced innovative academic structures, taking seriously the ideas he gleaned from his studies, in his relentless pursuit to find the best ways for students to learn. And Anthony put that mission into effect in the classroom, but also on the soccer field, golf course, bowling alley, astronomy outings, and in chess matches. He was a winning coach and moderator. But it was the deep bonds he formed with his students, athletes, and mentees that revealed the power of his presence in their lives.

However, the bond he has had with his 2 sons, 7 brothers, cousins, and many nieces and nephews is the clearest reflection of a life well lived. The stories that they tell of their experiences with Anthony are funny, irreverent, poignant,(and mostly true), creating a portrait of the man whose words and actions are indelible, because of an almost larger-than-life love of life.

Anthony loved a lot of things on this Earth: Star Trek, horses, good (“better be hot!”) food. But some might be surprised how much he appreciated the beauty of artistic expression. He came to passionately embrace opera in his thirties, but long before that he held a deep connection to poetry, especially T.S. Eliot (whom he quoted even more often than he did Spock), who offered Anthony’s hungry mind a challenge and solace. I think he would like to have these particular words of Eliot’s, ones that he quoted so often, be his epitaph:

“Love is most nearly itself

When here and now cease to matter…

In my end is my beginning.”

(from Four Quartets)

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