Larry Wolfe
A native of Methuen, Massachusetts (about 30 miles north of Boston), Dave Rinaldo graduated from Central Catholic High in nearby Lawrence where he played football for the Raiders. He then attended Lowell Technological Institute, graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering. Lowell is now a part of the University of Massachusetts system. While in high school and college Dave was a guitar player in a rock band, playing high school dances, weddings and other social gigs.
He started his career with an engineering company before joining Brox Industries, a highway construction and paving company. He rose to the position of project manager with Brox before being hired by Frank DeLucia & Co, as general manager. Delucia & Co. is a Massachusetts-based firm that specializes in infrastructure installation for subdivisions. He then joined The Middlesex Corporation (TMC) as project manager. TMC builds and renovates highways, bridges and transportation structures throughout the Northeast and Southeast. Dave worked for TMC in Florida, residing in the Ocala area.
After a total of nearly 40 years in civil engineering and project management, Dave retired at age 59 in Florida. To keep busy he became activities director for his retirement community. Dave and his wife Rose started looking at Arizona as far back as 1997, but didn’t take the plunge till eight years ago when they purchased their home at Robson Ranch. It took another six years before they actually moved to AZ. (As an aside, that’s house number 24 for the Rinaldos, but who’s counting)?! They’re now looking at buying No. 25 in Sun Lakes!
Dave’s played for and managed the Robson Ranch team and began playing in our softball league this year. He became a team manager in our spring league and is one of our league’s top power hitters, belting many long homeruns over the fences.
That power is a leftover from his many years of body building and weight training. He participated in many AAU-sanctioned events over an 18 year period. During that time he says he “ate no pizza, pasta or red meat, which is especially difficult for someone of Italian descent!”
Dave and Rose both enjoy golf, but Dave noted that even though he taught Rose the game, now he can’t beat her, even though she still works as a nurse at Banner Casa Grande Medical Center and doesn’t play as much as he does. They also enjoy “making donations to the local casinos!” Most of their family (four daughters, a son and 11 grandchildren) are “back east,” so they make trips back there “when the weather is nice.”
When asked about his best softball memories, Dave said, “I rarely look back; I just want to play the next game!” He also said, “I like to win as much as the next guy, but if someone said your team will never win another game, I’d still come to the ball field and give it my all.” That pretty much describes Dave in all respects.