Frank Balistreri

Frank A. Balistreri, 71, late of Cocoa, FL, has died of cancer at Huntington Place Health Care in Rockledge, FL. He passed away peacefully on March 8, 2016, having been visited by his family and his friends. Frank had many family and friends in the Ohio area. He was born on October 10, 1944, in East Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Frank and Eliria Paradise Balistreri. Frank graduated from Kent State University with a BS in Social Work. He also received a Master's Degree in Sociology from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. Frank's passion was social work. His vocation was always directed to the servitude of disadvantaged youth. In the 70's, he had positions at Cleveland Boys School and the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court System. An LSW, he also was an adjunct professor at Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio. He later became CEO of Cleveland Crossroads for Youth until he engineered a merger with Cleveland Christian Home in 1999. He continued to serve in the capacity of COO until his retirement in 2001. Frank loved living near the tranquility of the water. He retired to Florida where he was an avid reader and enjoyed writing, painting and his dogs Ahab and Taco. He continued his social work at the Hospice of St. Francis in Titusville, and at the Atlantic Inclusive Academy in Cocoa. Frank was a catalyst for many life-long friendships. He was a one-man "social media" before the internet came along. His annual Holiday Party in Ohio was a homecoming for numerous friends, many of whom became acquainted because of Frank. Once you earned his friendship, you were considered family and a friend for life. Frank was preceded in death by his mother and father and is survived by his sister, Denise Paul Dobre, nephews, Matthew and Gregory Dobre, nieces, Alicia Dobre and Heather Mogar, numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and his partner Tom Black of Forest Park, IL. Family and friends are invited to pay respects on Saturday, April 9, 11:00am – 2:30pm at the Monreal Funeral Home, 35400 Curtis Blvd, Eastlake, Ohio 44095. A memorial service will be held at 2:30pm at the funeral home with burial to immediately follow at Lake View Cemetery, 12316 Euclid Ave., Cleveland OH.

Frank Balistreri

October 10, 1944 - March 8, 2016

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