Ralph F. D’Andrea,
Jr.
October 27, 1957 – August 4, 2004
Find a patch of grass, pull together some friends, throw in a
football, and you have a football game. Add a few more friends and you
have the cheerleaders. These simple ingredients made up the formula for
success for Ralph D’Andrea in which he inspired countless children,
parents and adults to get involved, give it their best, all in an effort
to make Central Mass Youth Football & Cheerleading one of the finest
organizations around. Involved with Central MA first as a Bartlett H.S.
football player in Webster, MA, for many years Ralph held a variety of
positions as a parent, coach, association president and culminating with
the position of President of the Central Mass YFC Conference from 1999 to
his passing. It didn’t take long for anyone who came in contact with
Ralph to figure out “to know Ralph was to know football”. A simple
conversation with him would transport you to the sidelines of many a game,
practice, as well as notable youth camps and clinics, such as the Joe
Namath Camp/Clinic. It didn’t make a difference which level of play…youth,
high school, college or the pros…football was football. As a season ticket
holder since 1977 of his beloved New England Patriots, it didn’t take long
to notice his seat at Gillette Stadium, which has a plaque that bears his
name, located in the second row. No, it didn’t take long to notice he was
never far from a patch of grass, not far from friends, fun, football and
kids.
Ralph is sadly
missed by all those who knew him, but he will forever remain in our hearts
and memories and we will always hear him tell us not to ever forget… “It’s
4 The Kids”!