Frank L. Smardo

Frank L. Smardo, 94, of Kingsville, died on Dec. 7, 2011, at the Bel Air Health and Rehabilitation Center, eight months after a debilitating stroke at home. He was born in Hastings, PA, on January 17, 1917, the son of Frank and Antoinette (Sral) Smardo. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 60 years, Mary Elizabeth (Lesko), by his parents, and by 5 (Helen, Adeline, Stella, Cassie, and Ann) of his 6 sisters. He is survived by his youngest sister Viola, his 2 daughters, Sylvia and Frances (“Toni”), 4 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.

His mother and father immigrated to the United States in 1910 and 1912 from Waksmund, Poland, near Cracow. They married in Hastings, PA and raised a family of 7, in which Frank was the second eldest and only son. His father was a soft coal miner and farmer who grew all the food for the family. Frank attended a Catholic grade school where he was taught by Polish nuns. He spoke and wrote Polish beautifully. He was an altar boy throughout grade school, walking the 2 miles to church and school each morning. In high school he developed his love of sports. As he passed some students practicing discus throws with their coach one day, the discus went astray and Frank threw it back to them. The coach recruited him on the spot, and he threw for the team and placed in its next competition. He played football weighing 138 pounds, and loved baseball, which he later played for a minor league team. He attended the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a two-year degree in education and earning a college letter in baseball. During a year as a long-term substitute he met and fell in love with Mary, who also taught at the Jamestown Elementary School in Portage, PA.

Due to shoulder injuries from sports, he was rejected by the Army in World War II, and worked at the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, ordering paint for fighter planes. Mary and Frank married in 1943 and raised 2 daughters. After the war, Frank began working in the furniture business. He played on the softball team while working for the Hochschild, Kohn department store. After they moved to Kingsville in 1965, next door to his godchild Ann Gaydos, he spent many happy hours in his garden tending the fruits and vegetables he planted. He loved to share these with his friends and neighbors. In 1974, he and Mary traveled to Poland with daughter Toni, visiting the home of his mother’s sister and family there in Nowy Targ. He was always devoted to his family and his church, St. Stephen’s Bradshaw, where he was a reader. He always loved children, and enjoyed his grandchildren, David, Suzanne, Sarah and Rebekkah, and great-grandchildren, Neil and Jay, immensely. He ardently attended all of David’s and Suzanne’s little league baseball and softball games, cheering them on. He was an enthusiastic Orioles fan.

In 1999, he and Mary traveled to Colorado where his granddaughter Suzanne was a student composer in the Aspen Summer Music Festival. Even as his health waned, he enjoyed watching sports and enjoyed listening to music, especially hymns and operatic tenors. He was blessed with several wonderful caregivers, especially Hope Smothers, who continued to care for him until the end of his life, which occurred while he was attending a hymn service at the nursing home.