Emmy Award-winning Television Sports Director Louis Volpicelli Has Passed Away at 91

From Edward Lawrence Funeral Home.

Louis Giuseppe Volpicelli, also known as Lou, Louie, and Poppy, passed away on Monday, April 20, 2015 at Atria of Darien.

Born on October 15, 1923 in Scranton, PA, he was the son of the late Vito L. and Clara Aruta Volpicelli. He was 91 years of age.

Lou was an undergraduate of Scranton University and did his graduate work at Fordham. He was a member of the Lions Club, Piedmont Club and the Directors Guild of America.

Lou was an Emmy Award winning director for ABC Sports. He was one of the original directors of Wide World of Sports on ABC, Monday Night Football and worked on every Olympic Games that ABC Broadcast from 1968 to 1988 including directing ABC’s work on the “Miracle on Ice” hockey game between the Soviet Union and the USA in 1980, many calling it the greatest moment in sports history. Lou directed many of the Muhammad Ali Heavyweight Championship fights including working on the “Thrilla in Manilla”.

In his post ABC days, he wrote a column for the Darien Times called “Up Close and Personal” about local people who do great things. For example the man who runs the town dump, the twins who run a local thrift shop and the local funeral home director who becomes a comedian one night a year.

Lou is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth Volpicelli Prazmark of Greenwich, CT; her husband Robert Prazmark and four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

He was predeceased by his wife, Suzy Wright Volpicelli, who recently passed on March 15, 2015.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, April 24, 2015 at 9:00 AM at St. John R.C. Church, 1986 Post Road, Darien. Burial will follow with full military honors at Spring Grove Cemetery, Darien.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to ASPCA, 424 E. 92nd Street, New York, NY 10128. www.lawrencefuneralhome.com