March 20, 2013
Bronx, N.Y. -
The Fordham University athletic department mourns the loss of former football Ram, David Ficca, GBA '53, who passed away Saturday, March 16, 2013.
After attending Mount Carmel Township High School, Ficca arrived at Fordham and became a mainstay in the offensive backfield with the football team, lettering for three years from 1950 until 1952.
Ficca was a member of the 1950 team that finished the year 8-1 with wins over Boston College, West Virginia, NYU and Syracuse with the only blemish being a 21-14 loss at Yale.
In 1951, Ficca became just the second Fordham running back to rush for more than 100 yards in a game, gaining 118 yards in a 41-0 win over NYU at Triborough Stadium. He joined fellow Atlas, Penn., native and Fordham Hall of Famer Len Eshmont, who was the first Ram to have a 100-yard game, that coming in 1938.
More recently, Ficca commissioned a painting of Eshmont that was created by Fordham head golf coach Paul Dillon, an accomplished artist with a portfolio that included portraits of Yankee great Yogi Berra, golf legend Arnold Palmer and the late John Cardinal O'Connor. The painting was unveiled at halftime of the Fordham-Georgetown football game in 2010.
Following graduation from Fordham in 1953, Ficca served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and then earned his LLB from Georgetown University Law School and his LLM from George Washington University.
After completing his legal education, he worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in Washington, D.C. In 1967 he joined Kidde Inc., of Clifton, N.J., as a corporate attorney. He retired from Kidde in 1987 as vice chairman and general counsel.
Ficca is survived by his loving wife of 51 years, Margaret M. (Kennedy) Ficca, of Franklin Lakes, N.J.; a brother and sister-in-law Francis R. and Diane (Strike) Ficca, of King of Prussia; five children, David K. Ficca and his wife, Meredith, of Chevy Chase, Md., Thomas K. Ficca and his wife, Teresa, of Upper Saddle River, N.J., William F. Ficca and his wife, Nancy, of Indianapolis, Ind., Raymond G. Ficca and his wife, Nan, of Arlington, Va., and Marykate Menapace and her husband, Jeffrey, of Hawthorne, N.J. He was the loving grandfather of 10 grandchildren, David John, Matthew, Michael and Christian, of Chevy Chase, Md., Thomas and Kathryn, of Upper Saddle River, N.J., and Molly, Madelyn, Brady and Ella, of Hawthorne, N.J.
The grandson of the late Nicola and Angelina Ficca and the late David and Rose Pizzoli, Ficca was preceded in death by his parents, Francis and Edith (Pizzoli) Ficca; a sister, Delores Ficca, and brothers, Nicholas and Joseph.
