Frances “Frankie” Lastowka, age 81, died peacefully at home on Sunday, November 13, 2022 in the presence of family, after a five year challenge of Parkinson’s Disease and other conditions.
Born, raised and married in Chester, she moved to Aston for ten years before living for the last forty-five years in Gradyville, Edgmont Township.
Although Frankie served diligently for many years on the Board of Directors for Associated Services for the Blind and the Delaware County March of Dimes, Frankie was best known in her communities as a dedicated volunteer who preferred to work in the background rather than in the limelight, while always focusing primarily on family. In support of her son Joe and his classmates, Frankie helped as a teacher’s aide in classrooms at Overbrook School for the Blind and St. Lucy’s School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. When Joe mainstreamed his education at Penncrest High School, she was active with the Parents of the Chorus where Joe and his younger brother Greg sang. More than anything else, Frankie was a devoted and caring mother. She and her husband Joe parented two exceptional sons who were her greatest treasures.
Her older son Joe 3rd was born blind with other learning disabilities, including severely impaired hearing. Her support for Joe continued as they graduated together with Associate’s Degrees from Delaware County Community College, and thereafter Bachelor’s Degrees from Neumann University, with each joint graduation receiving wide publication in the local press. While at Neumann, together they received the 1993 PAACE Awards as Outstanding Adults in Higher Education from the Pennsylvania Association of Adult and Continuing Educators. Frankie’s college education had actually started shortly after graduation from Notre Dame High School in Moylan, Class of 1959, when she was one of the first two women allowed to take classes at then Pennsylvania Military College (PMC) as it transitioned to civilian status as Penn Morton College and thereafter Widener University, but was interrupted for the years committed to Joe’s early upbringing.
Her younger son Greg, who died of cancer in 2015, graduated Yale University with highest honors, committed two years to the Peace Corps serving in Turkmenistan with his wife Carol, and after later graduation from University of Virginia Law School taught at Rutgers-Camden Law School. He was an internationally recognized scholar of cyberlaw and intellectual property, and author of a book published by Yale University Press that is regarded as a landmark treatise on the intersection of law and virtual worlds.
Her Gradyville home was the special place for the extended Lastowka and McGeehan families’ Christmas Day dinners, always followed by hours of enthusiastic caroling. For most of those families and others, Fourth of July meant that her house on the bay in Avalon, NJ was their destination for an annual festive reunion. Family pictures document Frankie’s satisfied exhaustion at the conclusion of each of those events, but for much of the year these homes were her opportunity for quiet connection with the beauty of surroundings.
After Frankie somehow persuaded husband Joe that their travel did not always require golf courses, she was able to visit many places of her choosing. Paris, St. Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Athens, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Florence, Galway and the rest of Ireland were among her favorites, while still accommodating Joe with multiple stays in Maui and the chance to play the “Southest”course in the world at Ushuaia, Argentina on a return from Antartica.
Frankie was a member of Aronimink Golf Club, which was the scene of many family birthdays, anniversaries and holiday celebrations. In her early adult years, she was active with the Chester Jaycettes.
She was predeceased by son Gregory Francis Lastowka, father Frank George McGeehan, mother Frances Weekes McGeehan, and brother Frank McGeehan.
Frankie is survived by husband Joseph E. Lastowka, Jr., a lawyer with the Eckell Sparks law firm, who was her classmate from first grade on at Resurrection School in Chester. Also surviving are son Joseph E. Lastowka 3rd, daughter-in-law Carol Chase Lastowka, grandsons Adam Chase Lastowka and Daniel Josef Lastowka, sisters Anne (James) McGlone and Denise (Ken) Kropp, Sister-in-law Linda McGeehan, niece Christie Tan, niece Kelly Mayerski, nephews David Kropp, Richard McGeehan and Mark McGeehan, goddaughter Karen Hamill and godson John Bethard.
In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested in support of The Parkinson’s Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital for its Parkinson’s programs, Neumann University’s Adult Education programs, The Wetlands Institute at Stone Harbor, NJ or any charity of donor’s choice.
Relatives and friends are invited to the Funeral Mass Celebrating Her Life Friday November 18 at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas the Apostle Church 430 Valleybrook Road Glen Mills, PA. Friends may call at the Church from 9 to 10:45 a.m. Interment at St. Thomas the Apostle Cemetery.
Born, raised and married in Chester, she moved to Aston for ten years before living for the last forty-five years in Gradyville, Edgmont Township.
Although Frankie served diligently for many years on the Board of Directors for Associated Services for the Blind and the Delaware County March of Dimes, Frankie was best known in her communities as a dedicated volunteer who preferred to work in the background rather than in the limelight, while always focusing primarily on family. In support of her son Joe and his classmates, Frankie helped as a teacher’s aide in classrooms at Overbrook School for the Blind and St. Lucy’s School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. When Joe mainstreamed his education at Penncrest High School, she was active with the Parents of the Chorus where Joe and his younger brother Greg sang. More than anything else, Frankie was a devoted and caring mother. She and her husband Joe parented two exceptional sons who were her greatest treasures.
Her older son Joe 3rd was born blind with other learning disabilities, including severely impaired hearing. Her support for Joe continued as they graduated together with Associate’s Degrees from Delaware County Community College, and thereafter Bachelor’s Degrees from Neumann University, with each joint graduation receiving wide publication in the local press. While at Neumann, together they received the 1993 PAACE Awards as Outstanding Adults in Higher Education from the Pennsylvania Association of Adult and Continuing Educators. Frankie’s college education had actually started shortly after graduation from Notre Dame High School in Moylan, Class of 1959, when she was one of the first two women allowed to take classes at then Pennsylvania Military College (PMC) as it transitioned to civilian status as Penn Morton College and thereafter Widener University, but was interrupted for the years committed to Joe’s early upbringing.
Her younger son Greg, who died of cancer in 2015, graduated Yale University with highest honors, committed two years to the Peace Corps serving in Turkmenistan with his wife Carol, and after later graduation from University of Virginia Law School taught at Rutgers-Camden Law School. He was an internationally recognized scholar of cyberlaw and intellectual property, and author of a book published by Yale University Press that is regarded as a landmark treatise on the intersection of law and virtual worlds.
Her Gradyville home was the special place for the extended Lastowka and McGeehan families’ Christmas Day dinners, always followed by hours of enthusiastic caroling. For most of those families and others, Fourth of July meant that her house on the bay in Avalon, NJ was their destination for an annual festive reunion. Family pictures document Frankie’s satisfied exhaustion at the conclusion of each of those events, but for much of the year these homes were her opportunity for quiet connection with the beauty of surroundings.
After Frankie somehow persuaded husband Joe that their travel did not always require golf courses, she was able to visit many places of her choosing. Paris, St. Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Athens, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Florence, Galway and the rest of Ireland were among her favorites, while still accommodating Joe with multiple stays in Maui and the chance to play the “Southest”course in the world at Ushuaia, Argentina on a return from Antartica.
Frankie was a member of Aronimink Golf Club, which was the scene of many family birthdays, anniversaries and holiday celebrations. In her early adult years, she was active with the Chester Jaycettes.
She was predeceased by son Gregory Francis Lastowka, father Frank George McGeehan, mother Frances Weekes McGeehan, and brother Frank McGeehan.
Frankie is survived by husband Joseph E. Lastowka, Jr., a lawyer with the Eckell Sparks law firm, who was her classmate from first grade on at Resurrection School in Chester. Also surviving are son Joseph E. Lastowka 3rd, daughter-in-law Carol Chase Lastowka, grandsons Adam Chase Lastowka and Daniel Josef Lastowka, sisters Anne (James) McGlone and Denise (Ken) Kropp, Sister-in-law Linda McGeehan, niece Christie Tan, niece Kelly Mayerski, nephews David Kropp, Richard McGeehan and Mark McGeehan, goddaughter Karen Hamill and godson John Bethard.
In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested in support of The Parkinson’s Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital for its Parkinson’s programs, Neumann University’s Adult Education programs, The Wetlands Institute at Stone Harbor, NJ or any charity of donor’s choice.
Relatives and friends are invited to the Funeral Mass Celebrating Her Life Friday November 18 at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas the Apostle Church 430 Valleybrook Road Glen Mills, PA. Friends may call at the Church from 9 to 10:45 a.m. Interment at St. Thomas the Apostle Cemetery.