Feb. 19, 2025

The University mourns the passing of Antonio “Jay” Joseph Sciola Jr., an employee at the University for 70 years in facilities services. Jay, 91, of South Kingstown, passed away peacefully at home on Feb. 14. He was the beloved husband of 65 years of Barbara J. (Baton) Sciola.

Born in Peace Dale, Jay was the son of Antonio Sciola Sr. and Lucy (Angrisani) Sciola. He attended South Kingstown High School, excelling at various sports. 

Jay started working at the university in 1950 – it was still known as Rhode Island State College then – at the age of 17, but was no stranger to hard work. He had worked as a caddy at a local golf course and at the state beach the previous summer, and needed a job.

“It wasn’t the case back then of looking to work,” he said in an interview in 2020. “You had to work to feed the family, your father needed help. I had two sisters and a brother. You didn’t have a choice. If you weren’t going to go to college, you were going to go to work. That’s why I went.”

With the exception of serving in the Air Force in 1952 and sick leave during the Covid-19 pandemic, Jay spent the next 70 years watching sleepy Rhode Island State College grow into the University of Rhode Island. He served in numerous roles – laborer, plumber, mason, carpenter, and supervisor – as the University swelled to more than 200 buildings over four locations, he said. 

He retired from URI in 2020 as a mechanical and electrical shop supervisor in facilities services – and with the distinction of being the longest serving state employee. The University became a home to him, his wife recalled in an interview with The Providence Journal prior to his retirement. 

When he was inducted into URI’s Lifetime Service Society in February 2022, his experience, knowledge, commitment, and leadership were recalled in the story about the ceremony: “He was a leader within his department, always on call and ready to tackle whatever maintenance concerns arose, even on his days off. Sciola impacted thousands of students across his many years of service to the URI community.”

“I enjoyed the work I was doing,” he said in 2020 of working at URI for 70 years. “I became a licensed plumber, and I liked the people I worked with. I liked the direction that the University was going in. I knew someday it would be a highly accredited university. And it is.”

Along with the importance of family, friends and work, Jay enjoyed spending as much time as possible on Salt Pond in South Kingstown, crabbing, scalloping, quahogging, and fishing. 

Visiting hours will be Friday, Feb. 21, from 4 to 7 p.m. in Avery-Storti Funeral Home, 88 Columbia St., Wakefield. A Celebration of Life will be held this summer.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Jay’s name to the R.I. Shellfisherman’s Association, PO Box 1802, East Greenwich, RI, 02818-1802, or to the American Lung Association, PO Box 756, Osceola, WI, 54020-0756.

Read the full obituary here.