Obituary of Frank Edward Kielar

Frank Edward Kielar Jr. passed away 22 October 2017 at Brookdale Meadowmont, Chapel Hill, NC. He was born in 1922 in Wanamie PA, son of Rose Wilkes Kielar and Frank Edward Kielar Sr., and grew up in Nanticoke, PA. He graduated from Nanticoke High School in 1940. His father was Mayor of Nanticoke from 1954 until his death in office in 1959. Before moving to NC, he lived most of his years in Brookhaven and Glen Mills, PA. Frank Jr., often referred to as "Fraun," enlisted in the Army in 1940, and served as Radio Operator/Gunner with the Army Air Force 9th Airborne in WWII. After D-Day in France, he was Sergeant with a temporary airstrip unit supporting planes that could not return to England after missions. He installed a B-26 bomber nosecone on top of a truck to serve as an all-weather mobile control tower. The idea caught the eye of General Eisenhower, who insisted Frank show him the inside of the truck. After the war, he married Maryann Gawloski and became an air traffic controller, serving longest at Philadelphia International Airport, where he rose to become Assistant Chief. After retiring in 1979, he developed his creative side, doing intricate pencil drawings and finding interesting folk-art uses for cast-off objects. He loved to dance, and after Maryann's death in 1992, became DJ for line dances at several senior centers. He maintained his loving sweetness and ability to make people smile and laugh right up to his passing. He is survived by his son David Blaise Kielar, Durham, NC; grandson Rafe L. Kielar, Durham, NC; daughter-in-law Cathy Toohill Kielar, Durham, NC; grandson-in-law Patrick Gray Emerson, Durham, NC; great grandaughters-in-law Ainsley and Morgan Emerson, Durham, NC; nieces Kathryn Petroski Davis, Bothell, WA; Donna Petroski, Renton, WA; Carole Wurst Fiorentino, Carlisle, MA. He was preceded in death by sisters Eugenia Kielar, Dorothy Kielar Wurst and Marie Kielar Petroski; nephew Dr. Stephen F. Wurst; niece Barbara Petroski Kaszubski