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A Mass was held Wednesday morning at St. Luke Church in Westport for Westport resident Frank Parise, a World War II veteran who died March 11. He was 86.
Born on April 30, 1924, in Bridgeport, Parise was the husband of Frances (Kirik) Parise. During World War II, he was scheduled to be shipped overseas, but was reassigned to work as a special operations machinist at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Parise and his wife moved to Westport in 1947, and he began working as a tool and die maker and machinist for Bond Rubber in Derby. He went on to become president of Power Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Bond Rubber.
Parise later started his own machining/designing business in his basement, which eventually grew to become the Revere Tool Co. in Bridgeport. As president and owner of the Revere Tool Co., Parise did a lot of work for Electric Boat in Groton and the nuclear submarine program. He even worked on the Nautilus, the world's first nuclear attack submarine.
Frank then moved on to become co-founder and vice president of Syntex Rubber in Bridgeport, where he worked for 44 years before retiring at the age of 84.
For many years, Parise coached Westport Little League and Westport Pop Warner Football. He was an active member of the Westport Staples High School Gridiron Club and designed and built the first press box at the high school football field.
In addition to his wife of 69 years, Parise is survived by four children, Susan McManus and her husband, Timothy, Dennis Parise and his wife, Ann Wiggans, Ronnie Parise and David Parise and his wife, Anne Dieringer; 11 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his son Tommy, his grandson Ronald Joseph Jr. and his daughter-in-law, Terri Ottinger Parise.
Burial took place in Oak Lawn Cemetery, Fairfield, with full military honors.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Joey Parise Scholarship Fund, c/o First National Bank of Suffield, 30 Bridge St., Suffield, CT 06078.
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