Riccardo Ponzio and his family moved to Mt. Lebanon in 1956 during his senior year of high school at Central Catholic High School. He moved from The Bluff area of Pittsburgh, overlooking the Monongahela River, because Duquesne University was razing his neighborhood to expand its school.
“Nobody wanted to move,” Ponzio noted. “We could see the whole area from there: the river, the fireworks, Mt. Washington.”
The year after Ponzio moved, he ended up actually attending Duquesne University, where he became friends with several Mt. Lebanon High School graduates.
Upon moving to Mt. Lebanon as a teenager, Ponzio made many friends and appreciated how welcoming the community was. His father chose the area for the family because Mt. Lebanon was known as a fantastic place to raise a family, with easy access to transportation.
“It was so convenient for my parents, who were both still working downtown,” Ponzio said. “The BG bus line was a half block from our house and stopped at Kaufmann’s, where my mother worked.”
Ponzio’s father started a travel agency, Ponzio International Travel, in 1948. In 1956, Pan Am offered Ponzio’s father the opportunity to fly in one of the first Boeing 707 jets, but the elder Ponzio had to pass up the opportunity as he was unable to close his office for the day. The younger Ponzio, however, was able to take that flight, which did an hour-long loop over Lake Erie. From then on, Ponzio was hooked on travel and the travel industry. He began working as a travel counselor as a Duquesne student while taking courses in finance, economics and marketing.
Around that time Ponzio attended a student ball held at Duquesne, where he met the student body president of Seton Hill College, Carol Lee. He convinced her to allow him to present at Seton Hill about an upcoming College Week program in Bermuda. The presentation and the trip were a success, and a relationship blossomed between Ponzio and Carol Lee that has now spanned more than 60 years of marriage.
Ponzio and Carol Lee were wed in 1965 and bought their first home on Kelso Road. Eventually, they moved to the Mission Hills neighborhood, where they stayed for 40 years. They raised four children, all of whom graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School: Laura, Rick, Carla and John. The family was very active in the close-knit Mt. Lebanon community.
“I did a lot of coaching,” Ponzio laughed. “I coached the girls’ softball team and the boys’ soccer team.”
The family were active members of St. Bernard Church, where Carol Lee was the organist and her friend Tina Capecci sang. Another parishioner, Judy Gelman, wanted to start dance classes at St. Bernard, and the trio formed the Center for Theater Arts, where they initially charged $1 per lesson. The group later moved to the Women’s Club of Mt. Lebanon, and then to its current location at 250 Mt. Lebanon Blvd. The Center for Theater Arts now offers more than 80 classes.
“The growth of the program is very much a testament to the power of community in Mt. Lebanon and to the foresight and passion of those three ladies,” Ponzio stated.
Ponzio continued to expand his travel agency in downtown Pittsburgh and opened an office in Rome, Italy. His most memorable trips involved travel to Rome. In 1975, he coordinated 13 Pan Am charter flights from Pittsburgh to Rome for the Holy Year 1975. In 1986, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh asked Ponzio to arrange travel to Rome for the elevation of Donald Wuerl to bishop. He planned a trip for 180 people to attend the elevation, and they all received a private audience with Pope John Paul II. On that trip to Rome, Ponzio had the opportunity to be blessed by Mother Teresa.
“I can’t believe that within three days I held the hands of two living saints!” Ponzio exclaimed.
He has also enjoyed traveling to China, Japan, South Africa and Pakistan, where he visited his son who was a Fulbright Scholar.
After their children grew up, Ponzio and Carol Lee moved to the Mt. Lebanon townhome community Main Line II. Ponzio moved his travel company to Washington Road in Uptown Mt. Lebanon and was able to walk to work.
In 2015, Ponzio had open-heart surgery and came to Providence Point for rehabilitation. He enjoyed it there so much that he suggested to Carol Lee that Providence Point would be their next move. They joined a waiting list a year later and became involved at Providence Point with various activities such as bocce tournaments, water volleyball, trips to the Pittsburgh Symphony and Pittsburgh Opera, as well as dining.
“We love being able to dine outdoors,” Ponzio said.
In 2018, they finally made the move to Providence Point and are quite happy. They are still close to their hometown of Mt. Lebanon, and many of their friends and neighbors are also now living at Providence Point alongside them.
