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Dan Rinaldi '51 Remembers Being With "A Great Group Of Guys"
In describing his fondest memories of La Salle Academy while on a visit to the campus, Dan Rinaldi ’51 said, “Being with the great group of guys I was with — particularly my closest friends Richie Ryder and Bob DiIorio with whom I have lunch every month at Richards Pub or Mike’s Kitchen — that is what I remember and cherish the most.”
“In academics, I truly enjoyed reading American History,”said Dan who was drafted and served in the Korean War. “I also was fond of French as taught by Brother Thomas and Mr. Reilly whose Brother Joe was in my French class. I learned to speak French and it came in handy when I was
in France.”
“My favorite teachers were Brother Thomas, Lou Cimini — a peach of a guy, Ed Roth, Brother Adrian and Bill (Zip) McKenna who would say to us, ‘take a zip for the day,’ meaning we got a zero,” said Dan who later graduated from Providence College with a degree in Economics. “I did well at PC — particularly my last two years when I got straight A’s. I graduated and went to work at Rhode Island Hospital Trust as a trainee to the head of the Rhode Island Division lending officer.”
In describing his fondest memories of La Salle Academy while on a visit to the campus, Dan Rinaldi ’51 said, “Being with the great group of guys I was with — particularly my closest friends Richie Ryder and Bob DiIorio with whom I have lunch every month at Richards Pub or Mike’s Kitchen — that is what I remember and cherish the most.”
“In academics, I truly enjoyed reading American History,”said Dan who was drafted and served in the Korean War. “I also was fond of French as taught by Brother Thomas and Mr. Reilly whose Brother Joe was in my French class. I learned to speak French and it came in handy when I was
in France.”
“My favorite teachers were Brother Thomas, Lou Cimini — a peach of a guy, Ed Roth, Brother Adrian and Bill (Zip) McKenna who would say to us, ‘take a zip for the day,’ meaning we got a zero,” said Dan who later graduated from Providence College with a degree in Economics. “I did well at PC — particularly my last two years when I got straight A’s. I graduated and went to work at Rhode Island Hospital Trust as a trainee to the head of the Rhode Island Division lending officer.”
When Hospital Trust was sold, Dan went to work for Domestic Bank in Cranston and officially retired in 1995 but stayed on as a member of the board of directors until the bank was sold in 2010.
“I fondly remember my 15- year reunion, an all-day Saturday event at Francis Farms in Rehoboth,” said Dan. “Gabriel “Jake” Jacome, Charley Sullivan
and Richard Hainey were there. And, at our 50th, Brother Dominic did it all and we had a heck of an evening!”
In 1959 Dan married his high school sweetheart Silvia Nerney and they are the parents of two children — Steven, an attorney in Washington, D.C. and Patricia, a teacher at Lincoln School and former actress who was in the movie “The Sixth Sense” and was a hostess on QVC. “All in all, I have a great life and it was at La Salle where much of the foundation for that life was built,” concluded Dan.
La Salle Academy is a high school rich in history and grounded in the person and teachings of Jesus and the Catholic faith, which are core to the school's life and culture. The De La Salle Middle School provides a strong holistic foundation for students to transition into high school. The high school and middle school provide students of diverse ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds, a community to foster growth in the tradition of St. John Baptist de La Salle’s ideals of faith, service, and community.
