Richard C. Giudici

Richard Carl Giudici (96) of Davenport peacefully passed away on July 13, 2024. He was born to Phillip Giudici and June (Reich) Giudici on September 12, 1927, in Chicago, Illinois. A south sider, he grew up near Comiskey Park and played baseball from an early age. His parents parted when he was six years old, and his grandparents, Luka and Catherine Reich, were prominent figures in his youth. Richard would talk about going to weekend Croatian picnics with his grandparents where they would play bocce ball and feast on ethnic cuisine. His Mother remarried to Charles Tortorello who was a wonderful stepfather to Richard. 

Richard attended St. Bede Academy in Peru, Illinois, for high school where he starred in baseball and football and met many lifelong friends. He was honored as the oldest living graduate at homecoming 2021 and inducted into their Sports Hall of Fame.

From there he went to college at Northern Illinois State Teachers’ College (now University) where he was Captain of the baseball team and met the love of his life, Joan Marie Markiewicz, from Lemont, Illinois. They married in June of 1950. Richard was inducted into the NIU Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. 

He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox spent two years in the minor leagues with the White Sox and Dodgers, getting cut while batting .310 because he, at 5’ 9”, was “too short” for a first baseman. His stocky roommate, Don Zimmer, was only batting .220 but went on to a long major league career as a player and coach, a fact Richard would bring up from time to time.

He obtained a Master’s Degree in Education from Western Illinois in Macomb where the first of their six children, Mary, was born.

They moved to Davenport in 1953 for Richard to become the first principal of Central Elementary School, which was a new school on a gravel road north of town. It’s now called Harrison School and the gravel road is 53rd Street.

After a few years and more children added to his growing family, he left education for the food business and spent his career first as a manufacturer’s representative and then as a food broker, finishing up with a small distributing business.

Richard was a life-long sports fan cheering on the Cubs, Bears, and Hawkeyes. He had Hawkeye football season tickets for many years and stayed up until the wee hours in 2016 to watch the Cubs finally “break the curse”.

He greatly enjoyed family, the more, the merrier. Big mostaccioli parties were a family tradition.

His wife Joan, being a competitive person, beat him to Heaven in July of 2021. 

Richard is survived by his sister, Charmaine Urban, Evergreen, Illinois, his children, Dr. Mary Catherine Walton, Tempe, Arizona, Dr. Michael Charles (Dr. Paula) Giudici, Davenport, Richard Steven (Lisa) Giudici, Clive, Iowa, Julianna Marie (Dr. Carl) Skulski, Boulder, Colorado, Patricia Susan (David) Klein, Sandy, Utah, and Anne Elizabeth (Michael) Faulhaber, Davenport, sixteen grandchildren, and fifteen great-grandchildren, and his beloved little dog, Babe.

Memorials may be made to University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. 

Funeral services and Mass of Christian Burial for Richard will be 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 16, 2024 at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Davenport. Burial will be in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Davenport. Visitation will be held Tuesday from 10 a.m. until the Mass time in the gathering space at the Cathedral. Richard loved bright colors and attendees to his services are encouraged to wear colorful clothing. 

Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.