Ralph John Lusich

NEW YORK CITY, NY - Ralph John Lusich, age 82, of New York City died of pancreatic cancer September 4, 2011. He was staying at Camelot Farm in Winchendon, MA.

Ralph was born September 2, 1929 in Hoboken, NJ to Antonia Imocovich Lusich and Gillio Lusich. He grew up in Hell’s Kitchen and Henry Street in Manhattan. Having learned to swim in the East River, he earned varsity letters on the Seward Park High School Swim team. He served in US Marine Corps from 1950-1952, rising quickly to the rank of sergeant. After leaving the Marines, he studied mechanical drafting.

In the late 1950’s, while looking for work in drafting, he took a temporary job that lasted twenty-five years with the Metropolitan New York Council of American Youth Hostels. As executive director of MNYC-AYH he oversaw development of a travel program that sent over 1500 kids each summer on bicycle and back-packing trips around North America, Europe, China, and India, and included an active year-round weekend ski, canoe, bike, hike program for teenagers and adults. At AYH, Ralph made a name for himself with his sense of humor, love for practical jokes, and gift for mentoring young people. As one former trip leader wrote, “All of us have been the beneficiaries of Ralph's vision and love and the wonderful blend of energies that love engendered.”

Retired from AYH in the 1980’s, Ralph took up bookselling on an Upper West Side street corner, where his gregarious nature and love for children earned him a steady clientele. In 2005, at age 76, he accepted a job as manager of St. Francis Thrift Store in Manhattan, where he worked until April of 2011.

Diagnosed with cancer in the spring of 2011, he chose to enter Hospice in the care of Bruce MacDougall and Margaret Hawthorn who led trips and worked at AYH as young adults in the 1970’s. He spent his final three months with them in Winchendon, visited by many friends whose lives he had touched over the years.

The only child of Yugoslavian immigrants, never married, Ralph leaves a host of beloved friends spanning all generations, including surrogate nieces Ruby MacDougall of New York City and Sadie MacDougall of Acworth, NH.

A memorial gathering will be held in October 2011 at Hostelling International, 891 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10025. For information, call 978 297 0645. Memorial donations may be made to Hostelling International. Much gratitude goes to the staff at Gardner Hospice - especially to nurse Sarah Welsh - for kind support and appreciation of a unique individual.

Be a philosopher, but amidst all your philosophy remember to keep a twinkle in your eye. (David Hume, modified by Ralph Lusich)

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