T raditions & Memories Ricky Bagolie Attorney As an interfaith family, Ricky and Rosy Bagolie blend cultures that comes together in a unique and harmonious way during the holidays. “She’s Dominican and we are both Jewish,” explained Bagolie, who was raised as a Jew of Italian heritage. He is also a former President of the Clifton-Passaic UNICO, and Italian-American service organization. “Rosy’s family is Catholic, so we celebrate Hanukkah at home and participate in Christmas with her family,” said Bagolie, who is an attorney with offices in Clifton, Jersey City, New York, and Florida. “Rosy’s really an American success story,” he continued, proudly. “She came here from the Dominican Republic at age 10 with her family who had nothing and did not speak English. They settled in Elizabeth where she eventually became class president. She finished her college degree at Seton Hall in three years, her masters in one, and then obtained her doctorate in educational leadership, all while teaching public school back in her hometown. She is an expert in autism and is now the Director of Special Services in Bogota,” he concluded, then added with a laugh: “Oh, and she married me.” When it comes to raising their three sons, Frank, Aaron, and Jacob, the Bagolies bring them up in the Jewish faith but integrate aspects from Rosy’s Dominican background.
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December 2015 • Clifton Merchant
Rosy and Ricky Bagolie with Frank, age 9, at left, and 7-year-old twins Aaron and Jacob.
“The oldest one is nine, and I already have papers to schedule his Bar Mitzvah when he is 13,” he explained. “All of the boys are on track to have their Bar Mitzvah.” “At the holidays, we have a Mensch on a Bench, a Hanukkah Bush, The Festival of Lights, there’s gifts being wrapped and all that,” Bagolie continued. “For the Festival of Lights we fry potato pancakes called latkes. We also make a Dominican dish using cassava. It’s a root vegetable that’s a little bit sweeter than a potato. Recently, we’ve been experimenting with making latkes with the cassava.”