Richard Kempton

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Richard W. Kempton Sr., 74, of Rossville, a fourth-generation Staten Islander who was a devout Roman Catholic, died Wednesday at home.

Born in Rosebank, Mr. Kempton also lived in New Brighton and Stapleton before settling in Rossville 45 years ago.

At McKee High School, he wrote for the school newspaper and belonged to the Drama Club. Later, he spent two years at John Jay College.

He was a member of the National Guard when he enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1957. He served in Germany.

Mr. Kempton went to work for the New York City Fire Department, in communications, in 1966. In the mid-1980s he was appointed chief of communications, responsible for all five boroughs. He retired in 1994 from the department's Brooklyn headquarters.

In his parish, St. Joseph-St. Thomas in Rossville, Mr. Kempton coordinated prayer groups and served as a Eucharistic minister for 26 years. For many years, he also belonged to a prayer circle headquartered at Mount Manresa.

He enjoyed model-making and wood-carving in his spare time. He was a professionally trained framer.

He loved his children, but he adored his grandchildren, said his wife of 52 years, Angela Mauriello Kempton. He was a wonderful caring and loving husband, and he will be missed dearly.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Richard W. Jr.; a daughter, Duanna Christine Kempton; a brother, Kenneth J; a sister, Linda L. Rey, and four grandchildren.

The funeral will be Monday from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, Tottenville, with a mass at 10:30 a.m. in St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Pleasant Plains. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.

Services: Monday May 20,2013 a Mass of Christian Burial 10:30 AM at St Thomas the Apostle R.C.Church. Burial at Resurrection Cemetery

Visitation: Friends will be received on Staruday May 18,2013 from 7-9 PM only and Sunday May 19,2013 from 2-4 & 7-9 PM

Cemetery: Resurrection Cemetery (Staten Island)

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: St. Thomas The Apostle RC Church