Frank Regnante of West Islip, co-founder of Gift of Life International, dies at 94
Frank Regnante of West Islip in 2017. Credit: Theresa Regnante
Frank L. Regnante never sought the spotlight or accolades that came with his myriad accomplishments as a humanitarian. He preferred to operate behind the scenes, quietly letting his work speak for itself, family and friends said.
“He got a tremendous delight out of seeing other people succeed,” said Robbie Donno, a longtime friend.
Regnante, who co-founded Gift of Life International, a nonprofit that supports children in need of lifesaving care to treat congenital heart defects, and whose detailed expertise on fundraising helped support numerous Long Island organizations, died last Wednesday. He was 94.
Family and friends remembered Regnante, a longtime West Islip resident, as a devoted family man and philanthropist whose warm smile brought comfort to those around him as he listened with such care as to always recall specific details of someone’s story in future conversations.
“If he couldn’t help you directly, he would find someone that could,” said his daughter Theresa Regnante, of Bay Shore, who followed her father’s footsteps in fundraising to become president and CEO of United Way of Long Island.
Born in the Bronx in 1929 to Italian immigrants, Frank Regnante graduated from De Witt Clinton High School and Siena College before serving two years in the Army during the Korean War. He spent 18 years working in print and graphic arts.
In 1973, he became vice president for development and public relations at St. Francis Hospital in Flower Hill, where his work helped put the hospital “on the map” as a leading heart center, his daughter said.
Regnante partnered in 1975 with Donno, then a young member of the Rotary Club in Manhasset, to coordinate funding through the Rotary to bring a 5-year-old girl from Uganda to St. Francis Hospital for surgery to correct a congenital heart defect.
Regnante and Donno picked up the young girl, Grace Agwaru, at Kennedy Airport on a late October day.
That first successful mission led to the formation of the nonprofit Gift of Life, which has now morphed into a worldwide organization that will soon celebrate a milestone of helping 50,000 children, according to Donno.
Donno, who returned for another stint as president of Gift of Life two years ago, said he reminisced recently with Regnante how they were thrilled to go from helping one child to five and then five to 10 and so on, never imagining the far reach that would continue decades later.
He credited Regnante’s optimism and dedication for allowing the program to thrive.
“The enthusiasm has been passed on, the knowledge has been passed on,” he said.
Regnante leaves behind an indelible legacy, one that continued until his final days as he worked with United Veterans Beacon House, a Bay Shore nonprofit that supports those who have served in the military and their families, his daughter said.
Frank Amalfitano, president and CEO of the nonprofit, said Regnante was “an inspiration” and a “mentor” who offered guidance on acquiring grant funding and helped in many other ways.
They met about a decade ago and developed a close relationship. Amalfitano, who just turned 76, said Regnante treated him like a younger brother.
“In my lifetime I don’t think I’ll ever meet another man like him,” Amalfitano said.
When Regnante had a moment to relax, he enjoyed cheering for the Yankees and Knicks and would often bring his family to the U.S. Open tennis championship in Queens, said his son, Tom Regnante, of Baltimore.
He said his dad was a “vibrant” and “giving” person who always had to keep busy.
“Retirement wasn’t in his lexicon,” the son said.
Frank Regnante was known for handwritten notes he would mail to family members and friends that offered insight and advice “in a very loving and humbling way,” Tom Regnante said.
The letters became known as “Frank mail.”
“There’s a big void without Frank Regnante in this world,” his son said. “And our task is to do whatever we can to honor his legacy.”
In addition to his children Theresa and Tom, Regnante is survived by his wife of 65 years, Virginia Regnante; their three other children, Louise Regnante, of Central Islip, Jeanne Regnante, of Branford, Connecticut, and Ginger Colarossi, of Short Hills, New Jersey; and five grandchildren.
The family will receive visitors from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday at Fredrick J. Chapey & Sons Funeral Home in West Islip as well as from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, when a funeral service will immediately follow. The interment will be at Pinelawn Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, the Regnante family established The Frank L. Regnante Memorial Fund to provide financial assistance to veterans through Mission United.
Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
