Frank L Gazzola

Frank Gazzola, age 76, of North Mankato, died at his home on August 28th, 2004. He was born on July 16, 1928, in New York, New York, the second child of Louis and Pauline Gazzola, both of whose families had immigrated to this country from Italy near the turn of the century. His first friend was his only sibling, Olga or Sis, to whom he remained closely connected for all of his life.
He grew up in Manhattan in the 1930s listening to the radio when Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played for the Yankees. He graduated from Samuel Gompers Tech High School and joined the US Navy in 1946. He attended electronics school and worked on the USS Mount McKinley. While stationed in Illinois, he filled in for a friend on a blind date. This is how he happened to meet a young woman named Shirley Maguire from Walnut Grove, Minnesota, who was working at a nearby orphanage.
After the two were wed on September 3, 1949, in Walnut Grove, Frank signed on for a second tour in the Navy. He was assigned to San Diego where he worked on electronic equipment. While living in San Diego Shirley gave birth to Patricia, the first of their eight children. Upon release from the military, Frank took his family back to Minnesota where he earned a degree in Business Administration at Mankato State College in 1955. Meanwhile, their second daughter Nancy was born. After graduating with honors, Frank worked for Russell Peterson CPA over the next 6 years while the family grew with the additions of Cynthia, Charles, Thomas, and Robert. Frank was an officer with the Junior Chamber of Commerce and served on several local boards.
He later was employed by Continental Oil and moved in 1961, to Saint Louis Park where Peggy and Linda were born. Every summer he would take some of his children back to New York City to strengthen ties that held them close to their Italian roots. These summer trips established a pattern of family travel that has continued for nearly half a century.
In 1967, the family moved to North Mankato where Frank formed a series of accounting partnerships. He served on the Mankato School Board from 1975 to 1982. His work enabled him to meet people from all walks of life. Clients became friends and friends became like family. The relationships he built with people around the state and country transcended business dealings. As precious as his work life was, nothing compared in importance to his family. Each of his eight children went on to college and successful careers, providing him with his greatest source of pride. Frank is survived by his wife, his sister, all eight children, and twelve grandchildren.
The greatest joys of the last years of Frank's life came from family and friends, including his cousins in Italy and the birth and growth of grandchildren who found it very easy to love their Papa. In October of 2003, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS or Lou Gehrigs disease. Like Gehrig, he was able to look at his own life and view himself as a fortunate man.
A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 3, 2004, at Holy Rosary Church in North Mankato. In lieu of flowers, Frank requested that donations be made to the Immanuel St. Joseph's Hospice Program, the ALS Association, MN Chapter (333 N. Washington Ave., Ste 105, Minneapolis, MN 55401) or Project ALS (511 Avenue of the Americas, PMB #341, New York, NY 10011).