Team Leo continues to honor its beloved namesake

When a rare cancer ended the too short, but bountiful, life of Leo Roselli, upward of 700 people lined up to pay their respects at his nearly five-hour wake. Even his preschool teacher came.

"I never took a bathroom break," his widow, Laura Roselli, said.

While she and Leo's other family and friends knew he was a great guy, they had no idea of the extent of his good works - the long list of people to whom he delivered free food from his family's Italian food business, the funds he raised, the chores he did for people in need.

"Everyone said he did it quietly," said Laura, 47, of Mount Laurel.

After Leo's death in 2009, his friends and family resolved to keep his legacy alive. They wanted his sons, now 14 and 16, to know the kind of man he was and to see that in action.

Enter Team Leo, which has raised more than $10,000 for cancer research through annual runs with Livestrong, a foundation to support people with cancer. One year, their team had about 100 runners. Members have organized memorial golf tournaments and poker competitions.

This weekend, Team Leo rides again, this time for a new cause.

On Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., the team will be at L.E. Roselli's, the Medford Italian food market that has been in Leo's family since 1969, to collect new and gently used household items and building materials to donate to Habitat for Humanity of Burlington County's ReStore in Cinnaminson. Sale of goods from the ReStore helps fund Habitat's work.

Roselli's, which is at 155 Church Rd., also will donate 10 percent of the day's sales to Habitat.

The Habitat folks are thrilled.

"Without the ReStore, we wouldn't be able to build houses," Habitat spokeswoman Caroline Malia said. "This is going to be an awesome opportunity to spread the word."

Laura got the idea attending a Habitat gala.

"I thought about Leo and the things he did for people," she said. "I thought, 'Building a house is something he would do.' "

Leo also played golf, regularly but not particularly well, hence the Horse's Ass Trophy for the worst golfer in the annual memorial tourneys at the Burlington County Country Club. They attract several hundred people of all ages and raise money for scholarships, including for Leo's son.

He also liked to play cards and was an active member of the Medford-Vincentown Rotary Club, so his Rotary buddies organized Texas Hold 'Em benefit tournaments at the Medford Lakes Country Club to remember him. The fourth will be in March.

Troy Haines, 44, who owns an auto repair shop in Medford and knew Leo some 20 years, was a regular at the monthly card games with Leo and a bunch of friends.

"We'd forget whose turn it was because we were joking and laughing," Haines said.

At Rotary functions, Leo would do more than his share but never look for kudos, he said.

"He did things because it was the right thing to do," said Haines, who lives in Southampton. "He never tried to impress everyone. He was who he was."

Leo was a small town boy who reveled in small town life, his wife said. He didn't set off intending to go into the business his father, L.E., and mother, Dolores, started in 1960.

" 'He could have been on Wall Street, but he chose Main Street,' " Laura quoted one of his eulogizers observing.

He got a degree in computers from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but an internship with IBM put him off corporate life.

When he got home, he started adding modern touches - such as computers - to the family business, which is now retail, wholesale, mail order and, newly, catering.

Laura, an extrovert who teaches genetics, and Leo, easygoing, hardworking, quick to smile, met through relatives. They shared a devotion to family and their wide circle of friends.

The couple threw an annual New Year's Eve party, said Karen Leimer, 47, now a California resident who grew up in Bucks County and was Laura's roommate at Gettysburg College.

"It was always something you looked forward to," said Leimer, who is flying in this weekend and helps organize Team Leo events.

"Life is busy," she said. "It keeps us connected."

It also keeps Leo's memory alive, which is especially important to Laura for Matt and Leo, her sons. She wants them to continue to hear stories about Leo's deeds, such as the ones she was told after her husband died:

The family whose child was in the hospital who Leo sent a truckload of Roselli food so the parents wouldn't have to cook.

The widower whom he delivered meals to even after the man's sons had left the nest.

A barbecue benefit for the person without health insurance.

The wallpaper he hung, the lawns he mowed, the money he helped raised to buy poor kids dictionaries.

The list goes on.

"He just did it," Laura said.

And now, in his honor, Team Leo will help Habitat raise money for another family's home. In the spring, Laura said they are talking about rallying the full team to actually help build a house.

There's just one thing. Given the team members' numbers, they could crowd a building site.

Said Laura: "We might have to work in shifts."

Materials and cash donations

for the ReStore will be collected at L.E. Roselli's, 155 Church Rd., Medford, from 8:30 a.m. to

2 p.m. Saturday.

New or gently used household appliances and building materials such as countertops; lawn tools; sheetrock; sinks; untorn, clean furniture; tubs; water heaters; and windows will be accepted.

Mattresses, clothing, drapes, and used cans of paint will not.

For a full list, go to: http://www.habitatbcnj.org/

content/shoptherestore/

donationguidelines.asp

Roselli's also will donate 10 percent of its Saturday sales.

The ReStore is at 1702 Taylors Lane, Cinnaminson. It is open

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays.

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