For those who knew my father, he was a man like no one else. I guess you could say my own uniqueness, and passion, and desire to go my own way was just like my Dad’s. RIP to a local legend who was arguably the best barber in the world – and best hitting instructor! Below please find his obituary and Celebration of Life event this Sunday.
FRANCIS “RICHIE” TOLA (click HERE to visit the Obituary)
Francis “Richie” Tola (1938-2024) passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer on Monday, October 28th. Born on July 7, 1938, he was 86 years young. For those who knew him, Richie was the greatest guy who had passion in everything he did. Born and raised in Trenton, NJ, he was a legendary barber for nearly 68 years beginning in 1957, one year after graduating from Trenton Central High School and serving in the National Guard. He was also a motivational mentor and hitting instructor to scores of kids and adolescents who ever played the game of baseball. He was revered for helping anyone and everyone who wanted it. The beloved “Richie the Barber” was also a terrific storyteller as well as an infinite source of knowledge, recounting true tales about the Mafia, baseball, Sicily (his home country), movies and anything medical related. As one longtime friend and customer tells it, “before there was Google, there was Richie.” He is survived by his wife, Rose Mary, son and daughter-in-law, Sam and Pam Tola, son Richard, daughter and son-in-law, Karen and Patrick Tuffy, four grandchildren, Matthew and Samantha Tola, and Riley and McGwire Tuffy, brother and sister-in-law, Ronald and Carolyn Tola, his four nieces, and pre-deceased sister and brother-in-law, Joan and Joseph Pallotti. Per his wishes, there will be no funeral services. There will, however, be a Celebration of Life held in his honor on November 10th from 4-6pm, in the main batting cage at Nottingham Little League. In remembrance of Richie’s life and love, the family requests any donations be made to “Nottingham Little League”, P.O. Box 2521, Hamilton, NJ 08690. Thank you for being his friend, patron or baseball player he influenced throughout his wonderful life.
Thanks for your enduring impact on the world Dad, and with love and light, I’ll see you on the other side. RIP – R
Today we’re paying tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s a national holiday in the United States and time to honor a great man who stood for never ending equality and justice for all. MLK was also the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, and a civil rights leader who inspired a nation with his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of 250,000 people gathered around the Lincoln Memorial during their peaceful march upon our nation’s capitol. We’re also talking about the Wolf Moon, a full moon that illuminates to its fullest tonight at 6:48p EST. Plus more fitness tips and inspiration as well as three more steps to everlasting youth from my book, How to Drink from the Fountain of Youth. Have an awesome holiday everyone…and get your workout in!
I remember it well, from the balcony on the 39th floor of my Midtown Manhattan office building located just 3 miles north of The World Trade Towers. Chapter 43 of my memoir, Simply Between Millions: From Wall Street to Hollywood, recants that fateful day 20 years ago today:
CHAPTER 43 – 9/11
“As I write these words, it is exactly one week prior to the 10th Anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. This is how I remember it:
It was the most beautiful of NYC days. Crystal clear blue skies and a coolness that made everything in the city feel alive. I was excited to go to work that day because I was giving my printer the thumbs up for my first mailing, The Tola Report. It was this fancy, four-page color flyer that was going out to more than 1,000 owners. I had spent the past six weeks getting it ready. Now it would be finalized and sent out directly from the printer. I also purchased two new suits and was excited to get them to my tailor on John Street. My tailor was less than 500 yards from the World Trade Center. I had planned to go there before I went to the office – he opened at 8 AM. But I was running late and the subways were crowded, so I decided to go straight to work and then go see him during lunch. I arrived at my Midtown office just before 8 AM.
If I had stayed on the Lexington Avenue subway line, I can only guess that I would have been at my tailor’s at exactly the time the first plane hit.
View from Midtown Manhattan on 9/11 – RIP
Our office had a balcony with an unobstructed view of Tower I and a partial view of Tower II (about half). As I was proof-reading my report for the last time, a senior broker, Zev, came running past me with a huge pair of binoculars. I would soon learn that he was a paratrooper in the Israeli Army and loved his military binoculars. He screamed, “Smoke’s coming out of the Tower”, as he ran by. I turned to look out my window and then at my clock radio that was playing the news. It was 8:44 AM, and there was still no mention of it. About three minutes later the reporter sounded confused when he said something about a small plane had hit the World Trade Center. I went to the balcony to check it out. A few other brokers and assistants had joined me, and others were in my office listening to the radio. We passed the binoculars back and forth, each taking a few minutes to look. Soon we were all staring at each other because we knew it wasn’t a small plane. There was way too much smoke pouring out of a huge swath of floors high up on Tower I. As real estate people, we strangely knew it would fall. Then a plane hit Tower II and it was chaos. Everyone in the office seemed to be running all over the place, onto the balcony, into my office, over to each other’s desks, until I found myself alone on the balcony.
Time stood still for the next two minutes as I secured myself so the binoculars wouldn’t move a millimeter. Then I focused my sights on Tower I. The stainless steel skin of the building, right below where the smoke was pouring out, was peeled away like a banana skin, arching away from the building, frozen in the air.
I then saw two men climb onto the steel skin, one behind the other, clinging for dear life, crawling away from the inferno. When the first man couldn’t go any further, he let go. As he plunged to his death, he did what appeared to be a backward swan dive. The other man soon followed, and when he let go, he grabbed his knees and slowly tumbled forward. I put down the binoculars and went inside. I’m not sure what happened next, other than I was on the balcony with a few others when Tower I fell. I didn’t have the binoculars, but I watched in shock as Tower I slowly crumbled to the ground. The same for Tower II – I was on the balcony and stayed until I could no longer see the horizon.
The next thing I remember, I was standing in the middle of Madison Avenue looking downtown at the smoke-filled sky. Cars were stopped dead in their tracks, doors open, people just standing there, screaming and pointing to downtown. If felt like a scene from a movie, as New Yorkers fled the streets not sure what to do. It soon felt like everyone was moving north. Me and two other brokers who lived in New Jersey walked north to my place. The entire time I looked back over my shoulder, trying to figure out what happened. All cell phones were dead, so it was word of mouth from the people in the streets. Once we got to my place, we put the TV on and set up camp. My apartment was busy with friends coming and going. By 6 PM, my broker friends had left, and fortunately, they both got off the island and made it home safely.
The next day, Jimmy V and I took the subway south to Canal Street. For some reason, we both needed to go there. The subways weren’t running past Canal, so we got out and walked east toward the Manhattan Bridge. Every street running south to downtown was barricaded with NYC policemen. We finally found a side street in Chinatown where we snuck by and made our way toward the rubble. It was at least a mile away. By the time we got to Foley Square, Jimmy V had an asthma attack. The air quality was bad, and of course, we shouldn’t have been there. Since he could barely breathe, we went down into the subway, just to get away from the polluted air. Twenty minutes later, we headed back.
What I remember most about our trip wasn’t the sounds and smells of the city that day. It was the two-inch layer of soot and ash delicately resting on the wrought iron fence surrounding Foley Square. It looked like really dirty, dry snow had fallen – it was eerie and yet strangely peaceful at the same time. I truly did feel my skin crawl that day. Something I won’t forget for the rest of my life.”
RIP to those who perished, and continued strength, happiness and unity for the rest of us.
Have an awesome weekend everyone…and get your workout in!
Tola Talks about selfish doctors taking operating room Selfies, North Korea’s internet goes down and the US economy is booming, plus the Get Your S#!T Award goes to the jackass in Tennessee who pulled a gun at a McDonald’s because they forget his cheeseburger. On Top 10 Tuesday, Rich also give us The Late Show with David Letterman’s Top 10 Things You Don’t Want to Hear on Christmas Morning. Weekdays on: youtube.com/tolatalks.
Tola Talks about America’s history and salutes the military service men and women with a special Veterans Day tribute including freebies for Vets throughout the country, lesser know facts about WWII, Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz and his 5-year plan to employ 10,000 Vets, plus the all-star Concert for Valor tonight in Washington D.C. headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Rihanna, Jennifer Hudson & Carrie Underwood. On Acoustic Tuesdays, Rich also interviews the Country-Americana band from LA, The Gun Hill Royals, who perform live.
Tola Talks leadership and baseball with a tribute to the great Yankee shortstop, Derek Jeter. On Movie Mondays, Rich also reviews A Walk Among the Tombstones with guest co-host, Troy Titus-Adams. Weekdays on youtube.com/tolatalks.
Tola Talks’ Rich Tola and Movie Monday’s guest co-host, actress Troy Titus-Adams.
Tola Talks with fashionistaValeria Goncharova Barrett. On Throwback Thursdays, Rich takes us back to the highlights of 2001 – Including a tribute to the Heroes of 9/11.
Here’s a tribute episode to the inspirational film from 1984, The Karate Kid, that rocked the world and taught us that Wax-on, Wax-off was all about learning the fundamentals and building a strong foundation.
