PLEASE NOTE: NO SERVICES WILL BE AT THE FUNERAL HOME. EVERYTHING WILL BE AT ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH. SEE BELOW FOR INFORMATION.

Ercole was born on August 7,1968, to loving parents, Aurora and Pasqualino. Being the youngest of 5, he always did what he could to be involved with his siblings. Whether it was talking to his brother, John, many late nights in the kitchen, or following Alex and wanting to go for rides with him, or idolizing his brother, Domenick, who he thought was the coolest guy ever, and enduring the torture of his sister, Lena, putting make up on him when he was a little boy, because she always wanted a sister.

Coming from a large, Italian family, he would always reminisce about all of the times his house would be full of family and friends, and of course most of the time was spent in the kitchen, which we all know his mother was famous for cooking up an amazing meal for 20 people in 2 hours. When he lost his father, his brothers and his mom, Ercole struggled with that. I am sure his Mom was the first one to greet Ercole when he ascended into Heaven.

In 1990, it was then he met Sara and they would wed in 1996. The love, the bond, the admiration and respect these two had could be felt by all that knew them.  They were later blessed with 3 beautiful daughters Selena, Alicia and Justine. Ercole was so proud of his daughters and worked so hard to provide for his family. He would always talk about his girls to everyone. And when he was away at competitions and couldn't make it to softball games, you could bet that he and his bbq buddies would be watching the live stream on his TV on his trailer.

Many knew Ercole as their mechanic. Ercole has been working on cars since he was a teenager, and often spent a lot of nights at Kenny Wheeler's garage. This got him interested in drag racing and they would spend many nights fine tuning his '71 Olds Cutlass so he could race it at Atco.  Of course once his children were born that hobby was put aside to be with his family. Ercole would later get a job at Tom's Mobil and was mentored by Tom Doughtery. Tom instilled and taught Ercole so much, which helped him become a successful business owner. Ercole would later buy his own gas station/auto shop repair known as Chila's Car Care. His honesty and integrity were what his business was built upon and that's what his customers loved about him. He was blessed with an amazing staff of employees. From Matt, starting at the age of 17, to most recently his nephew Ted, and, of course, we can never forget Lew.

Aside from work, Ercole's biggest passion was competition barbeque. He started Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit in 2010. His first competition was the NJ State BBQ Championship in North Wildwood, where he finished 46th Overall. He was so disappointed that he immediately found another competition the following week, where he received 2nd place chicken and finished 4th overall. He would spend so many hours researching, perfecting and even a little shiggin (barbeque term) to see what flavors and textures the judges were looking for. Once he tested and tried many recipes, he found success. He had so many teammates through the years-from Ted, TT Nicholas, the Bukenas', Bob the Kingsford Kid, Mike, Mark P, Vince, Jake, Mac, Gabe and most recently Mark Flanigan.  He went on to win so many accolades. He was a 5 time world champion, he won 28 Grand Championships, several dozen Reserve Grand Championships, he won The Jack Daniels World Championship, and was named KCBS Team of the Year in 2022. The loss of Ercole is impacting the bbq family, who he considered his bbq brothers and sisters. Ironically, Ercole's first and last competitons would be the NJ State Championship.

Ercole cherished his time with his family and the loss is felt deeply. He leaves behind his wife of 28 years, Sara, his 3 daughters, Selena, Alicia and Justine, his most loyal dogs Amber(who he claims is the smartest dog in the world and is attached to him) and Jarvis. He also leaves behind his sister, Lena Doumenis (Ted), many nieces, nephews and cousins, and many friends that he considered family. He was predeceased by his parents, Pasqualino and Aurora, and his siblings John, Alex and Domenick.

Come help celebrate 56 amazing years of Ercole. While we are mourning the loss of this amazing man, his life needs to be celebrated as he was a very happy man and he truly was aware of his blessings. TO KNOW HIM WAS TO LOVE HIM. The world lost one of the most amazing humans and his absence will be felt by many.

HIS VIEWING WILL BE ON THURSDAY, July 24th, at the St. Clare of Assisi Parish (St. Michael's Church), 313 Memorial Avenue, Gibbstown NJ from 5 to 9pm and again on Friday from 9 to 10AM with a Mass of Christian burial 10:30AM. Interment will be held privately. Arrangements by LANDOLFI FUNERAL HOME of Paulsboro. To share memories visit www.landolfifuneralhome.com

PLEASE NO FLOWERS. THE FAMILY REQUESTS that any contributions be made payable to Sara Chila, and sent to Century Savings Bank, 800 East Broad Street, Gibbstown, NJ 08027, attn: Sandy Quinn, Bank Manager. These generous offerings will then be put into Ercole's daughters' trust accounts, as he was always wanting to provide for them and to be sure they are taken care of.

Ercole, you will be missed. You are our Guardian Angel. Until we meet again, we love you and will miss you terribly. May you rest in peace.