Frank Parisi

Born in Guttenberg, NJ on May 27, 1936, he was the son of Salvatore and Antoinette (Varlaro) Parisi. A diligent student and avid athlete, Frank attended Columbia College in New York City where he became an accomplished and decorated fencer. He was awarded All-Ivy League and NCAA All-American in the saber discipline in 1958, and was considered an Olympic hopeful before deciding to attend the School of Medicine at Georgetown University.

Upon graduating Georgetown in 1962, Frank began his internship, and later residency, in Pediatric Medicine at St. Michael’s Medical Center in Newark, NJ, where he met his first wife, Joan (Feaser) Parisi. In 1963, still partway through his residency, Frank was drafted into the United States Navy and served aboard the USS Proteus, a Fulton-class submarine tender, in Holy Loch, Scotland and Rota, Spain, where he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant. Frank ended active duty in 1965 and returned to New Jersey to complete his residency. He opened his first private pediatrics practice in Bloomfield before relocating it to Montclair in 1968, where he served his community for 23 years. During that time he also enjoyed a long career as a Naval medical reservist as a member of Fleet Hospital 20, where he was promoted to the rank of Captain.

In 1991, Frank and his fellow reservists were called to active duty during the first Gulf War, and dispatched to the Persian Gulf to provide medical support to Marine and Navy forces. After returning to the U.S. he permanently closed his private practice and extended his active duty with the U.S. Navy at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia. He retired from the US Navy in June of 1996 and moved to Ocala, Florida, where he met his second wife, Kathryn Rose Oswald.

Frank Parisi was a family man who, despite having a full career serving his community and country, made time every week to have lunch with his parents. He raised his four children with a firm hand but a kind heart; taking them on many wonderful family vacations, helping with homework, and attending their school events. He was a lifelong athlete, an avid student of history, music, baseball stats, and film, and possessed a quick wit and a sense of humor that would leave the room in laughter.

He is survived by his wife Kathryn, and her sons, Andrew and Christopher; his sister, Concetta (Parisi) Norris; his children Donna Parisi, her husband Matt Carlson, and their daughters Lauren and Megan Carlson, Janis (Parisi) Luby, her husband William Luby, and their children Joseph and Olivia, Susan Parisi, and her daughter, May Billek, and Frank Parisi. His neice, Melissa (Norris) Moulketis, and her husband, Tom, his nephew James Norris, his cousin Diane (Merola) Parisi and her sons, Leonard and Mark. He was preceded in death by his cousin, Frank Parisi, in 2017 and brother-in-law, James Norris, earlier this year..

Private services will be held at the convenience of the family in Largo, FL. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the following organizations:

Canine Companions

Southeast Region

8150 Clarcona Ocoee Road

Orlando, FL 32818

Paralyzed Veterans of America

Headquarters

801 Eighteenth Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006