I knew Ralph back in the 70s when he was a fresh faced kid playing Pop Warner football with the Eastchester Ramblers. His nickname was "Sparrow" because he was painfully slender and good looking. We also hooked up in the mid 80s when I got home from the service and he was still the nicest most loyal friend I had ever known. To keep referring to him as a Capo in the mob and some kind of degenerate WiseGuy is a serious misrepresentation. He was a Good Guy who had a loving family with roots in the community. That said, he probably did get mixed up with the wrong crowd but I guarantee that he was not a violent person and his memory deserves more respect than what is being said in these columns.
