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Born on Oct. 15, 1923, in Scranton, Pa., he was the son of Vito L. and Clara Aruta Volpicelli.
Volpicelli studied as an undergraduate at 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.
He was an Emmy Award-winning director for ABC Sports. He was one of the original directors of "Wide World of Sports" on ABC and "Monday Night Football" and worked on every Olympic Games that ABC broadcast from 1968 to 1988. He directed ABC's work on the "Miracle on Ice" hockey game between the Soviet Union and the USA in 1980, which many call the greatest moment in sports history.
Volpicelli directed many of the Muhammad Ali heavyweight championship fights, including working on the "Thrilla in Manila." 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. He wrote about 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.
He is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth Volpicelli Prazmark of Greenwich, her husband Robert Prazmark and four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, Suzy Wright Volpicelli, who died March 15.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday, April 24, at 9 a.m. at St. John Roman Catholic 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.
Arrangements were handed by Edward Lawrence Funeral Home in Darien.
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