Frank Gene Briganti

Frank was born on August 11, 1929 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Gino Francesco Briganti and Della Wishner Briganti. He spent his childhood growing up in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh during the depression and Word War II eras. Despite these times of hardship, his parents were determined to give him every opportunity in life. Frank attended St. Justin’s Catholic School and graduated as the class of 1947 valedictorian with a full academic scholarship to Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

During his sophomore year of college while majoring in chemistry, Frank found a different path in life and elected to pursue his desire to serve others by joining the Catholic priesthood. Frank attended seminary first in Montreal, Canada where he learned to speak French (poorly) and finished his theological education at a seminary in La Porte, Texas. He was ordained as a priest in 1955 with several others who would become life long friends. While in La Porte, Frank realized how much he preferred the Texas weather and decided to stick around. He served the rural community of Hamilton, Texas before being transferred to Austin, Texas where he served for several years at Cristo Rey Catholic Church in East Austin.

At the time, East Austin was very different from today’s East Austin and his parish was predominantly Hispanic so Frank learned to speak Spanish (average). Frank was very active in the civil rights movements of the 1960’s, especially for causes that benefited the Hispanic community he served. He was a key organizer of several fair-labor movements in Austin to ensure Hispanic workers were paid the same as their fellow Anglo workers, received safe working conditions and worked reasonable hours. Frank was involved in the organization of the well-known Economy Furniture strike (La Huelga) that was led by César Chavez.

Frank’s love for serving others was deep, but at the end of the 1960’s he found a new love named Ramah, and decided it was again time for a very new path. Frank departed the ministry and married Ramah on his birthday in 1970. Frank continued his educational pursuits obtaining his master’s degree from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and his doctorate in psychology from East Texas State in Commerce, Texas. Frank and Ramah settled down in a then new neighborhood just South of Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake) where they raised their son Matthew. During this time, Frank opened his private counseling practice and also worked for the Attorney General’s Office for more than a decade as a training coordinator.

Frank’s call to serve others never stopped as he continued to counsel clients up to his passing. His commitment to his family was solid as was his character. His sense of humor was unique and he loved to make people laugh and feel good, or purposely embarrass his teenage son but he did it out of love. Frank is preceded in death by his parents and wife Ramah. He is survived by his son Matthew and wife Ladina of Austin, Texas.