Ernest Ripley

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y - Native Staten Islander Ernest S. Ripley, 91, of Linden, N.J., the loving patriarch of three generations, died yesterday in Little Brook Nursing Home, Califon, N.J.

Born in New Brighton, he graduated from McKee High School.

Mr. Ripley later lived in West Brighton and Port Richmond before relocating to Linden in 1982.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, seeing duty in the European theater of action, including Germany.

Mr. Ripley was a hospital aide at Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home for 31 years. He retired in 1982.

He was a loyal fan of the New York Yankees and the New York Jets. Mr. Ripley also was interested in astrology and horoscopes and knew the astrological signs of all his friends and relatives.

His first wife, the former Olive Morse, died in 1998.

Surviving are his wife, the former Helen Rossky; his daughter, Mary Lou Widmer; three grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be Saturday from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, with a mass at 10 a.m. in Our Lady Help of Christians R.C. Church, both Tottenville. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.

Services: Our Lady Help of Christian's RC Church Saturday, September 24,2011 10:00AM

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Friday, September 23,2011 2-4 & 7-9PM

Cemetery: Resurrection Cemetery (Staten Island)

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: Our Lady Help of Christians R.C.Church