I will always remember Uncle Frank fondly, here's why:

He had the most wonderful smile and everytime I saw him, he smiled and laughed when I was with him. It's as if he had a high level of joy in his life all the time. Amazing.When I was a child, he would ask me how school was going, what I had learned and he wanted to know how much I enjoyed school. I would go on and on about school and he always seemed interested in what I was telling him. He was really nice and very kind. I looked forward to talking to him.I remember seeing him at a party when I was in my 20's. He came over to talk to me and he said he didn't recognize me, as he hadn't seen me in a long time. I remember he said while I had grown up, he had only grown older. I told him not to worry, that he would never be old because he was always happy every time I saw him. Once again, he smiled and laughed, just like always.I will miss him. Every time I thought of him, I only had fond memories. What is amazing is that those memories go back so many years, as I met him when I was only four years old.

 My condolences to all of you,

Mary Kirby

Uncle Frank never forgot a holiday or your birthday, & you could always expect a call from him, even on days like Mother's Day.

Often, he would say "do you know what today is"? When it was someone else's birthday.

Uncle Frank had a great respect for women and did not like it if he heard inappropriate being language used in front of one. BUT if he thought you could not hear him; it definitely was a different story!

Uncle Frank really enjoyed being part of any family gathering and rarely missed one. His family was VERY IMPORTANT to him, and he always asked how everyone else in our immediate family was doing, especially the kids and grandkids. When he saw the younger generation, it always made him very happy. 

Donna Malatesta

Uncle Frank was always very kind to me and made me feel welcome from the beginning of my time with the Malatestas. He would wave me over when we arrived at family functions and ask about how we were doing. He always asked about my parents and the girls. He loved our dogs and you could always find them with him. As he got older, it didn't slow his spirit or joy for being around the family. He did a good job taking over as the last old person and would call us up one by one at Christmas and say something kind from the head of the table. One of the mysteries of Uncle frank was his lack of love for cheese. I know the story it is from the army but I never could understand how someone could not eat it for the rest of his life. There always had to be a pizza without cheese for him and Uncle Nick at parties. He loved cheese popcorn but would only eat it if he didn't see the bag with flavor. I enjoyed his stories and comments about Cleveland sports. Our family will miss his smiling presence and loud voice when he walked in the house or we came in the room.

Beth Malatesta

My memories of Uncle Frank. Where do I begin…

Uncle Frank was always young. Always independent. Always did exactly what he wanted to do. And we knew that even as kids. With all that was also a hugely warm heart and a humorous person. When we were children, and we visited Grandma, Uncle Nick, and Uncle Frank every single Sunday, he would always play with us. He tickled us, he hid from us, he teased us and laughed with us. He had a youthful and lively personality. We knew even at our young ages, that Uncle Frank kept his own counsel. Uncle Frank loved the family and was especially close to his many friends. He loved Grandma and although it might be a little hidden, he would do anything for Grandma or for us. Although not religious in the formal sense of the word, he had no doubt where he stood philosophically.

Uncle Frank was brave. He was on a troop ship to the Philippines as a young guy from a Cleveland neighborhood. The trip took thirty days. He said, ‘Every day was water, water, water, water. And the next day was water.’ As we know the WW II guys rarely discuss the war time in detail. But in later years I asked him….’Uncle Frank….what did you do in the Philippines while you were there?” He said, ‘hand to hand combat in the streets.’ Hard to even imagine it!!! BUT this time did not make him anxious, bitter, or angry. He stayed himself throughout life.

For me, we kept our year to year-to-year connection through the Kentucky Derby. The Derby was our ‘thing.’ Win or lose, we always talked it out. And added a few wagers. I was fortunate to have an outstanding handicapper every year! I talked about horse names, colors, and history. He talked about numbers, post positions, and speed rating. We covered the gamut and got along great. Many Derby weekends I was traveling for GI nursing. But no matter what we made that call on Derby Day! We handicapped the Derby for 35 years, from 1989 through 2024. Sometimes we lost and sometimes we won a few dollars. I learned how to ‘box’ an Exacta. And that was about all he would say about that! Very Uncle Frank.

Like Uncle Nick, Uncle Frank was a teacher, brief and clear. He understood how things ‘should be’ and he held us to that standard. For example…we each put money on the Derby…but my money was by ‘promise’ as we were never together. He would tell me exactly how much I owed if we lost the race. Of course, in those days, I was working and busy and didn’t necessarily send him the funds at once! He would call and give me a hard time on the phone….and then, without fail, in the end, he would ‘forgive’ the debt and rarely accept my payment! Sometimes I sent it over his protests, but the lesson of ‘pay your debts’ was learned!

--A memory from Mark…we were driving together with Uncle Frank and Mark was considering retirement. We are all from work, work, work families. BUT, after all the years Mark worked—over 40 the time was approaching. When we talked with Uncle Frank he said, ‘Retire. Yes, Retire.’ You’ve put aside everything in life to work. And you did! Now, you should retire. You paid your dues!.’ Mark was hugely encouraged by this…

Uncle Frank…we love him tremendously AND he is always in our hearts and in our thoughts! What a guy! Bold and determined throughout…

This is just the tip of the iceberg, as I’ve known Uncle Frank all my 73 years. He remained true to himself every single moment of every single day.

Phyllis Malpas

STORIES & Other items:

One memory I have is when I was 16 the movie The Sting came out in December 1973 and

on a cold Sunday (and School) night in January Uncle Frank took me to the Village Theater (long Gone)

on Chagrin Blvd. to see this movie which still remains one of my favorites. This gave me bragging rights

at Holy Rosary for being the first to see it.

A Union electrician retired from the VA Hospital in Cleveland.

He was "Old School" and paid cash for everything, had to get a cosigner in his 80's to open a Gas and

Electricity accounts in His name.

He loved the USA as a Veteran of WWII in the Pacific theatre where he had a pet monkey named Emmy.

He enjoyed Golfing and would take us as very young boys to Caddie for him in his Sunday morning league.

Later in life He collected Golf pencils from around the world and made boards to sell and give away.

He enjoyed Bowling, playing cards and attending his Knights of Columbus, VFW and Little Italy Retiree group

functions along with visiting the Shrine off Chardon Rd.

Uncle Frank loved going to breakfast and lunch.

Get him to Scramblers or Fifth Avenue deli and he was happy to talk and break bread.

He loved Horses and spent a good amount of time at Thistledown Racetrack

Vince Malatesta 

I remember watching him shave on Sunday evenings with his Brush and shaving soap.

Every year he would remind me how cold it was the night I was born 1963.

He always carried a rosary in his pocket, enjoyed watching Mass on EWTN & also saying the Rosary, looked forward to the Eucharist Ministers that would visit him on Sunday.

He was devoted to his mom & his brothers & sister in law.

Even though she died at a young age Uncle Frank always talked about his sister Josephine.

Always happy to see all of us kids & knew we were doing well in our lives, always ended our conversations with God Bless You.

He was definitely set in his ways & there was nothing changing that.

He looked forward to his K of C bowling tournaments, marching into the Feast procession with the Little Italy Retirees.

Always had a smile on his face.

Teresa Malatesta

A few memories on uncle frank,

Soon after beth and I were married uncle frank found the black walnut tree growing in his garden and gave it to Beth and I. On a whim we planted it at our first house figuring there is no way a stick 6 inches tall or so would grow, but Uncle Frank was really excited to give it to us. 21 years later that stick is now probably 25ft tall tree.

Another memory is stopping by with baby Julia running around his apartment in Mayfield Hts, while he showed off his latest puzzles or other odds and ends at his place in Mayfield Hts.

Growing up I remember stopping by the Unc's after bowling on Saturdays to check in and see how they were doing, and getting to see the golf tee collection grow each time. He always had new ones to show off as his collection grew.

Tom Malatesta

No pizza, no cheese.

My father Peter Ferrante arrived at Uncle Franks house one afternoon. Frank’s mother Philomena baked a homemade pizza. My father went on to eat this entire pizza. Uncle Frank was a bit miffed at this. He complained to his mother about this and was told to shut up.

We have joked about this story for about 40 years.

During many conversations with Uncle Frank about his army days, we told us about his dislike for cheese. I suspect he had eaten some spoiled cheese. One afternoon Uncle Frank , with nephew Frank and I convinced him to eat tiramisu. He enjoyed it very much and we never told him that there was mascarpone cheese in that dessert. If he had found out, he would probably never had eaten it and would be mad with us.

Nick Ferrante

Going to miss Uncle Frank. He was a good guy. He cared for us kids and family first and always, loved his dogs even though he named every one of them Princess.

I recall every Saturday after bowling at Eastgate coliseum me, my brother Tom and my father Frank would go over there for lunch and if we did good they would dust off one of their old bowling trophies and give it to us and say we'll get you your own gold plate to put on it.

Little stuff like that meant a lot to us kids because trophies meant that you accomplished something in their eyes. Him, Uncle Nick, and Poppa. Jim were like The Three Amigos.

They always seem to work together to keep this family together. And his trademark was with every card. He would always write "HI.", if you're in the family, you'll get that last line, but he always called me before every championship game of any sport and asked me who do you got and I would tell him then. We'd have a little fun argument but I knew he was just trying to fill out his betting slips. Uncle Frank was Uncle Frank and we all understood it ,and we loved him for it. Especially, he would call me and say hey. What channel is the game on? I can't find it but it was nice because during our phone call he would always ask about Kim, Justin and MaKayla. And always ask how work was going because he was a hard-working guy his whole life. Now we can finally have a family party where we can order real pizza LOL...🙏😢 

Andy Malatesta

I’ve known The Unk for 77 years. The early Unk before 2006 was our young uncle,

Always home for dinner with us on Sunday’s, but then it was “going Out Ma “and out the door he went. He had his buddies that he hung with we heard their names but didn’t get to know them.

Some of the “old Neighborhood” guys were also friends of Uncle Nickie and Pop.

We knew ‘Dimp”, my Godfather, Bob Shala, Anthony Ferrante Gino, Peter, Ace, JoVann and others.

He, Uncle Nick, Big Grandma and Grandpa Giro lived together in East Cleveland. Grand Pa Giro passed in 1958.

The Boys and Grandma moved to a brand-new house in Mayfield Hts in 1965.

Our family would visit every Sunday. In East Cleveland by bus or rapid transit ,& by getting rides to Mayfield Hts.

Uncle Frank would be around to play “handball” in the driveway, have a game of catch in the back yard.

He would show us his garden in the Summer, tell us to watch out for the bunny nest in the plant.

Always told us That “If work calls, I am not home” when we visited on Sunday.

Grandma passed away in 1981. Then it was Nick & Frank.

They came to every family gathering, but often drove separately because “one might have to leave early”’

They took many trips to see Coombe Pete Ferrante at his Winery in Geneva. They shared many good times out there.

He always told me it would break his heart if we let the Ferrante relationship fizzle out.

Vince and I & Donna & Linda are keeping that promise.

When Uncle Nick passed away in 2006, we were not sure how Uncle Frank would do on his own.

He was in a big house he did not want, so he found a nice apartment in the neighborhood and moved.

He took care of himself quite well; I would visit and go over his “Paperwork”. Uncle Nick had asked me to look after him, so I did.

We would go grocery shopping, He could pick up snacks, tangerines, fig newtons, and “rolls”

We travelled to Thistledown to see his people, took him for rides to see a job site I was working on , and many doctor appointments.

We would go to the garden at the Winfield from time to time, sitting on the swing, but always had a Plain Dealer with us so we would not” be disturbed’.

Donna & I took him to Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine last August.

He actually found the memorial plate he purchased many years ago for his father and mother.

I am going to miss our talks, going over the mail and getting yelled at from time to time.

He did give us a new assignment, “put an American flag on my grave On Memorial Day and Veterans Day every year.

Salute’ Uncle Frank

We love you..

My memories of Uncle Frank. He always asked how my mom and dad were doing and my work. When he could no longer drive, he gave his car to Justin. We are so grateful for that, got a good 3 years out of his car. When our daughter was born, he had a dress that was made out of a parachute in Northern Luzon in Philipens Canetti. A POW made. 1945 We took pictures of her in it and sent to him. He loved it!! And of course… family gatherings… made sure we had sauce only pizza for uncle Frank! We will miss him dearly. Rest in heaven Uncle Frank💕

Kimberly Malatesta