Richard Dennis Costello
April 1, 1943 ~ July 20, 2021
Richard “Rich” Costello passed away on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, VA. Rich was born on April 1, 1943 in Brooklyn, NY. He was the son of the late Elizabeth Schmitt Costello and John Dennis Costello. Rich was preceded in death by his loving wife of over 45 years, Gwen Costello. Rich and Gwen loved to spend time with family, travel, and collect art that filled their home. Rich is survived by his only son, Kevin Costello. Rich was enormously proud of Kevin, and the two often had lengthy, stimulating conversations (as the Irish often do).
Rich spent most of his life working for the Catholic Church. He was an amateur photographer who took pleasure in taking pictures of nature. Rich liked gardening and enjoyed canning and freezing his vegetables to use for meals in the winter. He especially loved dogs, poodles being his favorite breed. Every day, Rich spent time walking his most recent dog, Sammy, on nature trails and the streets of his neighborhood. Rich and Sammy were good buddies, and known by everyone.
There will be a funeral Mass said for Richard on Wednesday, August 11 at 11:00 AM at Holy Face Catholic Church in Great Mills, Maryland with Father Rich O’Brien officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please send a contribution, in memory of Richard, to The Haitian Health Foundation, 97 Sherman Street, Norwich, CT 06360, or go to www.haitianhealthfoundation.org.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.mgfh.com Arrangements provided by the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A. & Crematory, Leonardtown, MD
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Very sorry to hear of Richards passing.Loved his laugh, fine man. Will keep everyone in my prayers.
Dear Kevin, Please accept my prayers and condolences on the loss of your Dad and Mom. They were so proud of you. I remember when they brought you, as a tiny infant, to 23rd’s office in Mystic.
Richard will be missed. He was such a loving husband to my sister. I always appreciated the love and friendship they shared. I will miss his visits to Maryland and our weekly phone conversations; he always said something that would make me laugh. He was one of the “good ones.”
Rich was a brother-in-law like no one else could be he loved my sister and loved our family and we always enjoyed the time we shared with him you will always be remembered.
It was my privilege to have known Rich since 1959 while attending Xaverian HS in Brooklyn. I followed him as a Xaverian Brother and most recently as a Xaverian Brothers Associate. My family will never forget the personal tour he gave us of Williamsburg. God bless him, Gwen and their son Kevin.
I have the best memories of spending time with Uncle Rich, Aunt Gwen and Kevin. Uncle Rich was always so funny and I would just laugh at him laughing at himself. 🙂 He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. Rest in peace Uncle Rich
Dear Kevin, we are so sorry to hear of Richard’s passing. Please accept our condolences. Do you remember when we met at a gathering of the Ohmberger family in 2016? With the help of the family tree we found out how close we are related (our greatgrandfathers were brothers). Richard invited me and my husband to visit him at Williamsburg. We stopped at Washington D.C. where you showed us every important places and answered our questions so patiently. At Williamsburg Richard welcomed us as if we knew us forever. He showed us all the places where the United States were founded. We had so much fun. We miss our chats on the back porch. Richard was such a generous, well-educated and friendly man. We will miss him. Michaela and Manfred from Germany