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<p>The Wyoming Valley lost a legend on Wednesday.</p><p>Angelo Ricci, the longtime owner of Angelo&#8217;s Pizzeria on Hazle Street in Wilkes-Barre, passed away at the age of 87.</p><p>Trust us, the loss was felt heavily in the Times Leader newsroom. At least one former staffer confessed she cried when she heard the news.</p><p>Why? Well, we will let you in on a little secret &#8211; most newsrooms generally run on pizza.</p><p>Just about any major event in the newsroom is accompanied by the tasty treat. The most important decision made every Election Night in just about every newsroom across the country is who is going to pick up the pizza.</p><p>The Times Leader&#8217;s is no different.</p><p>And in a valley filled with wonderful local pizza shops, Angelo&#8217;s is one of our favorites. And just to be completely honest, we love the two shops founded by his sons &#8211; Gerry and Angelo Jr. &#8211; too.</p><p>Some of us have been enjoying the Riccis&#8217; pizza since we were children. Some of us discovered it when we moved to the area to work at the TL. All of us have grown to love it.</p><p>&#8220;We lost a great guy today,&#8221; Angelo Ricci Jr. told reporter Pat Kernan.</p><p>Ricci Jr. said his father started the business in 1963, purchasing a restaurant formerly called Anita&#8217;s located elsewhere on Hazle Street. Ricci ran the business under the original name for about a year, before renaming it for himself.</p><p>Shortly after, Ricci purchased a meat shop, located at 445 Hazle St., and converted it into a pizza shop. That&#8217;s where Angelo&#8217;s is located to this day.</p><p>But Angelo&#8217;s is more than just a pizza shop.</p><p>It&#8217;s the kind of place kids hang out at after basketball games, the kind of place where if you order enough, it&#8217;s not necessary to give your name when you arrive to pick up your pizza.</p><p>It&#8217;s a neighborhood place in an era where they are few and far between.</p><p>We&#8217;re thankful to Angelo for building that kind of business and keeping it that way all these years.</p><p>For years, Angelo would be behind the counter making pizza. Even after he retired, he would still be occassionally in the shop tossing dough.</p><p>We were always thrilled when Angelo made one of our pies. We always felt we were getting something special those nights, and we were far from the only ones feeling that way.</p><p>Our sincerest condolences to Angelo Ricci&#8217;s family and to anyone whose life he touched. Rest in peace, dear friend, and thanks for the pizza.</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>&#8211; Times Leader </em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Photos of Angelo Ricci lie on the counter at Angelo's Pizza on Hazle Street on Wednesday afternoon as pizza makers continue making pizza with tears in their eyes after learning Angelo Ricci died early Wednesday morning after battling an infection. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL030719Ricci1-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Photos of Angelo Ricci lie on the counter at Angelo's Pizza on Hazle Street on Wednesday afternoon as pizza makers continue making pizza with tears in their eyes after learning Angelo Ricci died early Wednesday morning after battling an infection. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>

Our View: Angelo Ricci will be missed for more than the pizza he made