April 20, 2003

By Chris Smith
Santa Rosa Press Democrat

This is a big day for the Piccinini boys' uncle, the one who thinks he's a rabbit. This amazing man of 70 is Uncle Ray to Jim Piccinini, Sonoma County's immediate past sheriff, and Jack Piccinini, a battalion chief with the Santa Rosa Fire Department.

A North Beach waiter by trade, Ray has for 42 years been the Easter Bunny to sick kids at San Francisco's hospitals.He'll spend today going bed-to-bed through eight children's wards in a full-body rabbit suit. Youngsters able to eat candy will get one of his 700 bags of donated chocolates; the rest will receive one of the stuffed animals he picks up for free from Petaluma's Russ Berrie and Co.

Ray told me that on Easter in 1986 he decided his day's rounds would be his last, that 25 years as a bunny were enough. Then a doctor at the UC Medical Center asked him to come see the little girl in room 408.Ray was shocked; she looked lifeless and was a full of tubes. Her wrung-out folks sat beside her bed.

Ray called out to her several times before she opened her eyes, which grew wide at the sight of him. She accepted a gift and then reached to her father, saying, "See, Daddy, I told you he wouldn't forget."

As Ray stepped away the girl's burly father grabbed him and said, "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but that's the first time in a month I've seen her smile, and it's the first time in two weeks I've heard her speak. Thank you."

Ray said it was then he promised his God he'd keep on being the Easter Bunny as long he can put one paw before another.

BIOGRAPHY
from The Galileo Observer (Vol. 1, No. 3)
The Publication of the "Galileo Alumni Association"
Galileo High School, San Francisco

Imagine you are a very sick kid in a hospital and you’ve got an incurable disease. You don’t have much time to live, and the time you have lived has been filled with very few memories. It’s Easter Sunday and you look up from your bed and you see the Easter Bunny flapping its ears and handing you a present. You momentarily forget your plight and enjoy the moment, the moment when someone cares enough to give you a little joy and comfort and hope.

This is what Ray Piccinini, alias the Easter Bunny, has been doing for the past 40 years. Ray (Galileo, 1951), armed with boxes of donated candy and stuffed animals, makes the rounds of Bay Area hospitals and lifts the spirits of countless children. This year was no exception. The Easter Bunny visited eight hospitals. His co-workers—family and friends—put together over 700 packages of goodies for the kids. Like that other comedian’s kids on Labor Day, Ray’s kids look forward to his visit each Easter.

Ray has received letters from Presidents Reagan and Bush as well at the Mayor of San Francisco and the Governor of California. He carried the Olympic Torch for the 2002 Winter Games through San Francisco. Ray, who is 70, almost gave up doing the Easter Bunny. He had a triple bypass and temporarily had to assign his great nephew to take his place. But Ray was back at it the following year. He attributes his stamina and enthusiasm to the constant support of his wife of 22 years. "Pamela is my biggest supporter, fan and helper, and her love and caring are an inspiration for me to continue to do this every year," Ray says.

At Galileo, Ray teamed with Harry Underhill in a comedy act similar to Martin and Lewis. He later worked as a waiter at Enrico’s (where the Easter Bunny idea got started) and now can be seen waiting on tables at The Stinking Rose Restaurant on Columbus Avenue after 5 pm Tuesdays through Fridays.

Ray Piccinini proves the adage, that "in giving, one receives" . He says, "I love being the Easter Bunny because of all the joy I get bringing gifts to sick children on Easter Sunday".

Perhaps the single most important thing that keeps him going year after year is the little girl who was very ill and hadn’t spoken in a month. Upon seeing the Easter Bunny, she turned to her Dad and said, "I told you he would not forget" . And we will not forget you, Ray.