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Richard Abruzzo, 47 will be laid to rest on Wednesday, December 22, 2010. He passed away on September 29, 2010 off Italy's Adriatic coast while participating in the 54th Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon race. Richard and his co-pilot, Carol Rymer Davis, were missing until discovered by a fisherman on December 6, 2010. He is survived by his wife, Nancy; their two children, Mary Pat and Rico; his two brothers Louis, his wife Stacy and Benny and his wife Sandra; His aunts and uncle, Marie Turiciano and Terry and Ole Mathieson; Also survived by his mother-in-law, Judy Lujan; and fathers-in-law, Mike Lujan and Leonard Saiz, brother-in-law, Paul Saiz; sisters-in-law, Laura Gutierrez and Jennifer Garcia; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ben and Pat Abruzzo; and sister, Mary Pat Abruzzo-Kearney; and uncle Joe Turiciano. In 1992, Richard competed with Troy Bradley in the Chrysler Transatlantic Challenge race, setting a world record for duration and making the first balloon crossing from the USA to Africa. He was also the first person to fly solo transcontinental flight coast to coast in a Gas Balloon from San Diego to Atlanta in 2003. Richard won the America's Gas Challenge five times. His many honors include the Federation Aeronautique International De La Vaulx Medal, the Balloon Federation of America Shields-Truger Award, and the Montgolfier Diplome. He is a three-time winner of the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) Harmon Trophy. While attending UNM and skiing, he was a four-year letter winner, a four-year NCAA academic All-American, a three-time Western Athletic Conference scholar athlete and a NCAA championship participant as a freshman and top-20 finisher in the slalom and giant slalom in the the NCAA final. He served on the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta board of directors and was the current chair of the Board of Trustees of the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. He also was an active partner in the Abruzzo family enterprises including the Sandia Peak Tram, the Sandia Peak and Santa Fe Ski areas, and Alvarado Management Company. Richard Abruzzo spent a lifetime being an adventurer, whether in the skies as a balloonist, on the slopes as a skier or on the trails as a mountain biker. However, for Richard his greatest adventure and achievement was in being a husband and dad. He was honored to be a family man, for Richard it was a privilege he took seriously, whether hiking with the family, on the tennis court with his daughter or ski slopes with his son. Richard never tried to be good; he was always striving to be great. His love for adventure carried an inevitable element of danger, but he was one of the brave men and women who push boundaries to make the impossible seem possible. Richard will always serve as an inspiration to the more earthbound among us. Richard was the son of Ben, famed for being part of the crew that took the first manned hot-air balloon successfully across the Atlantic in 1978 and then the first trans-Pacific flight in 1981. A funeral mass was held on December 15, 2010 in the Cathedral of Manfredonia, Italy. Graveside services are schedule by Daniels Funeral Home for Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 10:30 a.m,, at Gates of Heaven Cemetery in Albuquerque, NM. Those who wish to send condolences may do so at www.danielsfuneral.com. Richard's care has been entrusted to: Daniels Family Funeral Services 7601 Wyoming Blvd NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 (505) 821-0010
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