Ray Castellani ’52

Written by Dick Beamish ’52 in memory of his beloved classmate

Ray (Mayo) Castellani, ’52, hoped to live long enough to reach what had once seemed an impossible goal: serving a million meals to the downand-out residents of Skid Row in Los Angeles. Ray achieved his goal ten years ago at the age of 79, having pursued this “calling” for 25 years. Many more meals would be served before Ray died on October 18, 2021, at his home in Granada Hills, CA—thus ending one of the most unusual and admirable careers of any AA graduate.

At the Academy, Ray was known for his charisma, sense of humor, and his talent for acting and dancing. But he was probably best known as an all-around athlete. He played on the football (our senior-year quarterback) and baseball teams, captained the basketball team, ran track on the side, and performed a memorable, windmill-style backstroke that won him more races on the freshman swim team than he lost. He also organized an informal boxing program over which he presided gleefully as “Sonny” Castellani, a name he fancied as suitable for a future middle-weight champ.

But after graduating in 1952 and briefly attending Springfield College, it was a long and sometimes rough road that Ray travelled to April 17, 1997, when he received the AA Alumni Award for Distinguished Service. Along the way he had been an actor, a reformed alcoholic, a house painter and furniture maker, all this before getting his “calling from God” to help the less fortunate.

With 111 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, he headed to the homeless encampments of downtown Los Angeles. He and his soon-to-be created Frontline Foundation would become a beloved presence on Skid Row in the years ahead.

According to a local newspaper reporter, who was present on that day, ten years ago, when Ray reached his one-million meal goal: “Cheers erupted from the line of men and women of Skid Row, where Castellani and volunteers park a van each week to distribute food. For some who call these streets home, Castellani is a friend, a father, and a man dedicated to giving without asking for anything in return.

“‘These are my people,’ Castellani said, after he shook hands with the man who received the millionth sandwich. ‘I love them all no matter where they come from. This is where I belong.’”

For his humanitarian work, Ray earned recognition from two American Presidents: George H. W. Bush and later from Bill Clinton, who invited him to the White House to receive the President’s Service Award, the country’s highest volunteer honor.

But no honor meant more to him than the one from George D. Mahoney, then president of the AA Alumni Association. The citation reads in part:

“You choose face-to-face, unblinking human interaction as your medium…wrap your message of respect, dignity, and caring in with brown-bagged sandwiches…then deliver these gifts to individuals caught in human desperation and urban decay.

“Pursuing dreams is your habit. First, it was acting, a dream that ended when addiction interrupted your career and your life. From hard lessons learned over many years came the conviction that you were called to serve others... Your ‘no questions, no conditions’ approach drew the needy to you, and also attracted hundreds of thousands over the years.

“Willie, a Skid Row friend, put it this way: ‘Ray’s got a lot of heart, a lot of guts, and a lot of patience.’ In recognition of your heart, guts, patience, and for all you have done for others, your fellow alumni do acclaim you a distinguished alumnus of The Albany Academy.”

Ray Castellani was 88 years old.