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Carlucci was killed in a traffic accident on the Merritt Parkway in Stratford in April 2007. She was 57.
She was among six people who dedicated their lives to gymnastics to enter the state Hall. Carlucci taught and coached in Stamford for 36 years. She was best known as the gymnastics coach at Westhill, where she led the Vikings to the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Western Division title in 1981.
In 1982, she was named the Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association (CHSCA) Outstanding Coach of the Year.
Carlucci served as coach of the National High School gymnastics team five times, and was a member of the FCIAC Board of Directors and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference gymnastics committee. In June 2005, Carlucci was inducted into the FCIAC Hall of Fame. She was a graduate of Stamford Catholic (now Trinity Catholic) High School.
Carlucci was also active in state and national gymnastics events. She judged numerous state competitions and worked twice at national high school meets. She was killed while driving home in difficult weather conditions after attending a state competition.
Carlucci’s sisters, Marie Carlucci of Stamford and AnneMarie Wilcox, accepted the award. Lorraine Duffy, a former Staples gymnastics coach and friend, spoke at the induction.
“I could speak for a long time about her many coaching accomplishments but I think even more importantly than these successes were the impact that she had on her students and student athletes,’’ Duffy said. “For those of you who knew Ro, you knew that first and foremost she was always about helping and doing what was best for the girls. It didn’t matter if you were the best person on the team, or the girl who had never done gymnastics before. Ro would be there to help them and make them feel good about themselves.
"They knew, without a doubt, that she would go to the ends of the earth for them, and that was a very good feeling. She had rules, and she was firm about them, and tough, but always supportive."
Other inductees were Marcia Frederick, Abie Grossfeld, Muriel Grossfeld, Joan Hicks and Dick Terry.
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