Frank deRobertis

Frank deRobertis died on August 21, 2014, in Vero Beach, Florida.

He was born Francesco Raul deRobertis in Rocca di Papa, commune of Rome, Italy, on October 25, 1923, to Gaetano Antonio deRobertis, an artist, and Michelina Maria Michelle Calderaro deRobertis.

He was the youngest of seven children, having five sisters and a brother.

As a young man, Frank served in the Italian navy until the German army occupied Rome. Following the American liberation of Italy and the close of World War II, he moved to Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Having a strong desire to become an American, he sailed to New York City and took a job as an accountant, and later as a financial officer with Alitalia Airlines, where he worked for over twenty years.

He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen as Frank deRobertis in 1964. While based in New York, he traveled between the U.S. and Italy with Alitalia, and managed finance for Alitalia offices in 27 states and regional offices in Miami and Atlanta.

In 1968, he met his wife, Patricia Rouse, who was working for Alitalia in Atlanta, and they married on August 8, 1970.

Their residences and work experiences took them from Key Biscayne to Dallas, Coral Gables, Birmingham, and Atlanta, and they loved traveling the world together extensively, making nine trips to Honolulu in their first year of marriage alone.

In 1984, they dedicated their lives to founding and operating an Atlanta-based business, Italian Connection, that imported fine Italian gold and jewelry.

Also in the early 1980s, they adopted a rescued Bichon named Wooly, who was Frank�s constant companion and an unspoken partner in the family business until his passing in 1997.

In 2003, Frank and Pat retired together to Vero Beach, where he became a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach.

He was a member of the Grand Harbor Golf & Beach Club, and he enjoyed fishing and was an avid model sailboat operator.

Throughout his life, he was a loving husband, a caring uncle, a kind and thoughtful friend, a shrewd businessman, and a well-traveled citizen of the world.

He spoke five languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English), read French and Italian newspapers, and was a serious reader of nonfiction, including books on travel, politics, military history, and American and European history. He was recently engrossed in biographies of Howard Hughes and Genghis Khan.

He is survived by his wife Pat of 44 years; his niece Loretta Parisi of Montreal, Canada; and his nephews: Marco Parisi of Forli, Italy; Ezio Quiriconi of San Vito Lo Capo, Italy; and Luciano Quiriconi of Rome, Italy.

There will be a model sailboat regatta this fall in his honor.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 11AM at the First Presbyterian Church, Vero Beach with a reception to follow at the church.