‘A big part of Austintown’: Wedgewood Pizza owner Fernando Riccioni has died

Fernando Riccioni, the owner of Wedgewood Pizza, has died, his relatives announced on Facebook Monday.

Riccioni helped build the 55-year-old locally owned pizza chain with locations in Austintown, Boardman and Howland — whose Brier Hill-style pie has earned national recognition — and also helped build his community, local officials said.

Township trustees extended their condolences to Riccioni’s family Monday.

“When you say, ‘Austintown’ ... the first thing that comes to mind is Wedgewood Pizza,” trustee Monica Deavers said Monday. “When we said we were going to have birthday parties, we always knew we were going to have Wedgewood Pizza.”

When trustee Robert Santos came to the township in 2010, Wedgewood was the often first thing residents boasted about, he said. But Riccioni’s legacy is more than that.

Riccioni often donated school supplies, food and clothes to local students, and Wedgewood often sponsored local athletes.

“He’s gone above and beyond and made sure the next generation had what they need to succeed,” Santos said. Riccioni had “not just a business impact — but a personal one.”

In his youth, trustee Steve Kent said he rode his bicycle to Riccioni’s shop to get pizzas. Riccioni was “a big part of Austintown,” he said Monday.

For Riccioni’s 90th birthday in 2020, Austintown trustees handed him the “key to the township.” Then-trustee Jim Davis said Riccioni was preceded by his reputation for philanthropy — giving out free pies to those in need.

“There hasn’t been a time where [there was] a baseball team, a football team ... some kind of organization that needed donations — and he and his family haven’t donated to the Austintown community,” he said in November of that year.

Within a half-hour of the announcement, hundreds of the shop’s Facebook followers offered their condolences, with one commenter referring to Riccioni as a “legend.”

As a boy, Riccioni and his father shepherded to feed their family during World War II, Riccioni’s daughter Filomena told Mahoning Matters in November 2020. Riccioni emigrated from Europe to the U.S. in 1960, at 30 years old.

Filomena said her father has never been the type to keep his good fortunes for himself — a patron to panhandlers. “If you have it and you could give it, you should always give it,” she said.

“It’s been important to my father because he came to this country — and now, more than ever, people should know that this country ... gave the opportunity for a third-grade-educated man,” Filomena said.

Pasquate “Patsy” Acconcia founded the pizza shop in Youngstown in 1967, according to the shop’s website. Riccioni joined as a partner when it moved to Austintown. For the next 20 years, they “worked daily to develop the recipes they are still using today,” according to the website.

As for the pizza itself, it’s standards are: “Never go down in quality. That’s the trick. If you change, always change to something better.”

Today the family business continues with Riccioni’s daughters Filomena and Adelina and Riccioni’s grandchildren.

This story was originally published July 18, 2022 at 4:36 PM.