The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Mr. Frank Gerace passed May 24 at his home in Somerset, from the complications of a stroke. He was 95 years old.
Mr. Gerace was born in Buffalo, N.Y. and lived there until he moved to Somerset in 1965. As a young man in the Italian section of Buffalo, he whiled away many days reading a wide variety of books, and spending time with his extended family.
He served our country faithfully in the United States Army, and was a recipient of both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. Frank graduated from Canisius College in Buffalo with a Master’s Degree in Chemistry. He had a long career in sales and marketing, which allowed him to travel the country while representing major pharmaceutical firms, such as Hoffman-LaRoche, Pfizer, and Miles Laboratories.
Frank was a founding parishioner of St. Matthias Church. He served the church as a lector at the daily 8 a.m. Mass. He was a past president of the Citizens Rifle and Revolver Club in Princeton, where he taught firearms safety classes. He also ran several annual turkey shoots with his many friends, with whom he spent pleasant days traveling the eastern seaboard, engaging in competitive skeet and trap shooting. Frank enjoyed golfing, as well as reading mysteries and biographies. On holidays, he liked to stay home and cook on the family BBQ. Some of his favorite foods were Italian sausage, salami, and spumoni.
He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Joan, and his sister, Marguerite Antonucci.
Mr. Gerace is survived by his children, James Gerace of Arizona, John Gerace and his husband, Steve Hand of Virginia, Frank Gerace and his wife, Cheryl Wanner of Boston, and Marianne Gerace of Somerset. He is also survived by his brothers-in-law, Henry Zugger, Paul Watkins and his wife, Joan, and his sister-in-law, Rosemary Caito, along with many cousins, nieces and nephews.
Friends and family may visit from 4-8 p.m. May 30 at the Gleason Funeral Home, 1360 Hamilton St.
Services will begin at 10 a.m. May 31 at the Gleason Funeral Home, followed by a 10:30 a.m. Funeral Mass at St. Matthias Church. Internment will follow at Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veteran’s Cemetery in Arneytown.
