RICHARD IMBROSCIO

Sugar grew up in the Italian neighborhood on Washington Street and graduated from St. John Central High School in Bellaire in 1949, where as a 5’6″ quarterback he led the Irish in his senior year to a perfectly ordinary 4-6 record. After a cross-county hitchhiking trip with his cousin Leo Curran, he headed off to Ohio State University, like his sons and grandson after him. He joined the Italian fraternity Alpha Phi Delta with his cousin and role model, Joe Marchese, and was later joined by lifelong friends Lou DiPaolo, Joe Pappano, and Ettor DelGuzzo. He came home in the summers to work in the blast furnaces at Wheeling Steel.

Sugar came of age in the post-war heyday of Bellaire, influenced by the generation of wise-guy returning veterans like Alphonse “AB” Bellows, Edward Liberatore, and Sugar’s cousin Dante “Junior” Corapi, who imparted in him an enduring sense of humor, graciousness, and street-smart wisdom. After graduation from Ohio State, Sugar found himself conscripted into military service, where he spent time in Japan and Korea, thankfully after the major hostilities had ended. His only brush with danger occurred when an overzealous private one night fired on him and a group of buddies shooting craps in a dark corner of the base.

After a variety of jobs took him to Columbus and Defiance, Sugar returned to the Ohio Valley for good in 1970, where he became part of a group of friends that embodied community life in Bellaire. Whether congregating at the City Restaurant, the Red & Green Club, the Varsity Bar, or on the benches on Belmont Street, Sugar, Frank Renzi, Dick Hartline, Steve Sorvalis, John Ruggiero, Bill Columbo, and Emilio Traversa, formed the nucleus of community that cherished the traditions of the city – Bellaire and St. John’s football, the Glass Festival, Gulla’s Hot Dogs, and gambling. These friends exuded an unmatched spirit of generosity, often nearly coming to blows insisting to be the one to pick up a check.

An accountant by training, Sugar held a wide variety of jobs over the years. He ran several Volkswagen dealerships, worked at Mobay Chemical, and ultimately served as a tax auditor for the State of Ohio. But Sugar was best known for what the kids today would describe as his side hustles. For twenty years, he ran a used car dealership near the old Ramcat Alley on Belmont Street, where he taught his sons both the value of hard work by cleaning cars and the importance of connecting with people. In 1980, he was the Democrat nominee for State Senator, winning all but 65% of the vote in what turned out to be a Republican landslide election. On top of all that, he worked many nights for a friend who ran several unsanctioned gaming operations in still-undisclosed locations.

Sugar is survived by his three sons, Richard, David (Cara Nine), and Michael (Marcie Bane), and his beloved grandchildren, Antonino (Tony), Mario, Paolo, and Katrin. His marriage to Donna Gay Lindsay ended in divorce shortly before her death in 1984.

Mario Richard James Imbroscio was born February 28, 1931 in Bellaire Hospital. His father Ignazio emigrated to the United States from Ficarra, Sicily in 1909 but returned in 1914 to fight for Italy in World War I. Ignazio returned to America in 1920, where he ultimately married Rosaria (Sarah) Magistro, whose parents emigrated from the neighboring Sicilian town of Brolo. In the Sicilian tradition, Sugar and his sister Antoinette were named after their paternal grandparents, although Sugar was 18 years old before he found out his given first name was Mario, largely owing to his mother’s desire to hasten the Americanization of the family. Sugar’s loving sister Antoinette succumbed to cancer in 1966.

Throughout his retirement, Sugar stayed remarkably active. He cherished his time at Oglebay Park, especially the annual week-long summer visits with his grandchildren. He lived for short stints in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Campbell, California, with his longtime friend and companion Barbara Viscolosi, and he also spent much time in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada. He was an accomplished poker player, once competing in the Senior event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Despite these travels, he was a regular spectator at his Grandchildren’s baseball and wrestling events in Washington DC over the past 20 years and taught them all to play poker, blackjack, and gin. He especially enjoyed attending his son Michael’s legal cases, where he became a de facto member of the team as an informal jury consultant, drawing upon his unmatched ability to provide a common sense perspective on the proceedings.

In his final years, he was bewildered by the changes he saw in his town and his country. A lifelong Democrat who cared about the core values instilled upon him from his upbringing in Bellaire – fairness, opportunity, education, generosity, and respect – he was troubled by the current allegiance to a leader and a party that struck him as so antithetical to those values.

The family presided over a private burial at Mt. Calvary cemetery. For those interested in honoring his life and legacy, the family welcomes contributions to the Richard “Sugar” Imbroscio Endowed Scholarship for Belmont County, which provides financial aid to Belmont County residents attending the Ohio State University (a link to donate can be found here: https://bit.ly/4bWy2yO. The family also would encourage support of the nonprofit Community Coffee and Tea, whose founders Chad and Alyson Farmer showed Sugar unconditional love and

support in his final years in Bellaire, at C2YC, P.O. Box 83, Bellaire, OH 43906.