Frank Catania

Frank Catania passed away January 27, 2022 at his daughter’s home in Harrison Township. Frank was born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 26, 1927, the firstborn child of Vito and Catherine (Russo) Catania. He was followed by his sister, Mary, and his brothers, John and Mike. His father died 15 year later, and his mother raised her children alone. He helped support her in any way he could. Until her passing in 2005, and until the present, he always spoke with great love in his heart for his dear mother.

That love could only be matched by the love of his life, Shirley Schultz, whom he married in 1947. They had five children, Kathy, Frankie, Lynn, Vicki and Dino. A baby boy, Vito, was stillborn in 1952. And his youngest son, Dino, died in a car accident in 1995.

Frank graduated from Eastern High School in Detroit in 1945. He was proud that he played all 4 sports – track, baseball, basketball and football. He was also voted Class Comedian. He attended most of the annual class reunions; his 75th reunion in 2020 was cancelled due to Covid.

Frank worked his entire life (with the exception of a couple of years as a bricklayer) in the Circulation Department of The Detroit Times and The Detroit News. He retired in 1989. Up until these last few years, he still associated with many of his coworkers. At the annual Christmas lunch, they would announce those retirees who had passed away during the year. Since he lived such a long life, he told me that at one of the lunches, after those announcements, someone quipped, “And Frank Catania is still alive”!

Over the years he took art lessons – each of us proudly displays a piece of his artwork. As an adult, he taught himself Spanish, and even became a lector in Spanish at St. Anne de Detroit. He knew some Greek and a tad of German, and, of course, English and Italian. So he liked to say he knew five languages!

Then there was his ever-present cigar and all the stories surrounding it. He started out smoking them, then he would just keep it in his mouth unlit. In retirement, he worked stocking magazines at Meijer. He would have the cigar in his mouth, and customers would say, “Sir, there’s no smoking”, and he would tell them patiently, “It’s not lit”! One Christmas, we had a t-shirt made that said, “It’s Not Lit”! One day, he finally quit cold turkey, thank God! But if he ever received one as a gift, he would enjoy a good smoke. It obviously didn’t affect his longevity.

He performed as a clown at many summer festivals at St. Anne’s. And he was a Distinguished Clown in the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2019 at almost 93 years of age.

He was there for us, mostly while being the sole wage earner for his family of 7, until mom went back to work in 1964. He had patience, not only with 5 children, but with his mother-in-law and mom’s uncle living in the 3-bedroom house in St. Clair Shores for many years! An addition was even made to the house to accommodate everyone. In 1987, mom and dad moved to a condo in Shelby, where they lived for 15 years, until 2003, when the adoption of a new dog brought them back to the Shores for a house with a fenced-in backyard!

After our mom died in 2006, he lived alone in that home for 13 more years. On November, 21, 2020, he contracted Covid. A day later, he fell at home and fractured his pelvis. He had also been being treated for the ureter cancer that ultimately took his life. He was sent home with hospice, and the family didn’t hold out much hope. However, with his family as 24/7 caregivers, by March 19, 2021, he had beat Covid and all its side effects, and he moved into American House Senior Living in Sterling Heights. He resided there until just after Christmas. He enjoyed the social activities, companionship and camaraderie. He loved the monthly theme parties – he won an award at the Roaring 20’s party, the first one he attended. He was interviewed by the Social Director, and when she told him the next party would be a Kentucky Derby theme, he quipped, “I want to win again. I might buy a horse”!

He prided himself on being a “dapper” dresser, indulging a late-in-life shopping addiction, ordering suits, shirts, shoes and hats from catalogs! When he joined Facebook and posted pictures, many comments were posted about his fashion sense, which always made him smile!

He loved to travel. He and mom took many trips to one of their favorite places, Paradise Island in the Bahamas. They also traveled to Alaska. And when granddaughter Kristin moved to California in 1998, they drove the Windstar back to Michigan for her and her roommate (where a fresh cigar was found under the seat weeks later by the roommate’s dad)! He and his brother Mike took a trip to Greece, which they still talked about fondly. Apparently, they crashed a wedding while there!

In 2014, at 87, he fulfilled a dream and took his first trip to Sicily to visit many cousins, who embraced him with open arms. He also visited Venice, Rome, San Gimignano and Pisa. None of his children could take him, so ironically, his Polish son-in-law Rich and Irish grandson Ryan accompanied him to Italy!

Frank always told the story that when he was about 10 years old, he asked his grandmother how long he was going to live. She replied in Italian, “Cento anno” – 100 years. So that’s always been his goal. Years later, as he approached 90, he told us that she also said she was going to live to 100…but he was a little nervous because she died just before her 94th birthday. His mother died just after her 94th birthday. Although he didn’t make it to 100, he had a good, long, storied life, passing just one day after his 95th birthday.

Frank was predeceased by his wife, Shirley (2006), son Dino Catania (1995) and brother John Catania (2017). He leaves to mourn his loss, his four children, Kathryn (Richard) Bartus, Frank Catania, Lynn (Randall) Foster, and Vicki (Tom) Kelly. He leaves ten beloved grandchildren, Brian, Kristin (Sanjay Srivastava) and Todd (Ann) Bartus, Stacey (Lee) Cartwright, Ryan and Jennifer McClellan, Derek (Brandi) and Adam (Lisa) Thomas, Gary and Tony Catania. He also leaves 11 dear great-grandchildren, Jack Bartus, Lincoln Srivastava, Avery Cartwright, Anthony, Angelina and Dominic Edge, Cameron and Adrianna Thomas, Benjamin and Cecelia Thomas, and Camden Catania. He is survived by his sister Mary Catania Block, brother Michael Catania, and many nieces and nephews who loved him dearly.

A Celebration of Life luncheon will be held in the spring. Details to follow.