Michael Frank Fruscione, 101

HARTLY — Michael Frank Fruscione, son of the late Joseph and Beatrice Fruscione, died on Saturday, July 27, 2019 at the home of the Nagyiski family with whom Mike has resided in his final years. The caring Nagyiski family loved Mike as a father and grandfather figure, uncle, and friend.

Mike, a veteran of World War II, was the last surviving brother of six brothers Angelo, Charles, Carmelo, Sam, and Tony. His only surviving sibling is his sister, Mary Fruscione-Petito, who is 99 years of age and resides in Florida. He is survived by many nieces and nephews, Beatrice Galloni, Joseph Fruscione, Stacey Nami, Grace Duseldorf, Frederick Petito, Lorraine McNair, Samuel Fruscione, Diann Joyce, Charles Fruscione, and Paris Fruscione; many great nieces and nephews.

Mike’s parents emigrated from Sicily to farmland in Delaware, where they built the original family home. The three-room house, of course, had no running water or electricity, but over time the six young sons eventually filled the small sleeping attic accessed by a simple ladder. During winter, the boys would wake up at times with a dusting of snow on the blanket.

During the farming season, the Fruscione boys helped tend the crops and contributed with part-time jobs at local farms. Seeing no future in farming, the Fruscione family moved to Trenton, N.J., where Charlie, “Doc” (as Carmelo became known), and Sam joined together to form Trenton Auto Clinic while Ange decided to become a restauranteur with eventual ownership of Pat’s Diner. The entire family loved music, but Tony discovered the guitar and left town for Las Vegas and Reno, where he formed his own group as the Tony Austin Trio. Mary went with the family to Trenton and got married.

Mike enlisted in the Army in Nov. 1941 and despite a hearing impairment, he was trained as a corpsman and took part in the Normandy invasion. He served until the end of World War II.

After the war, Mike returned to Hartly and the family farm to raise corn, soybeans, fresh vegetables, and a cow or two. He was satisfied with his life on the farm and his friends in the area. A confirmed bachelor, he was content with the quiet, peaceful life (as opposed to having a wife) and he enjoyed friendships with other farming families in Kent County, including the Amish.

During this period Mike formed some hard-fast convictions about certain topics he felt were important. He read Edgar Cayce books with great interest and developed certain understandings about the body, mind, and spirit. He warned everyone that the East Coast would fall into the ocean. He readily prescribed castor oil and aromatic spirits such as menthol turpentine and eucalyptus for a variety of aches, pains, and illnesses. He would argue with conviction the importance of the need for daily harmony and balance in one’s life and the seven prophecies of Cayce in one breath. All this was a serious matter to Mike.

Mike was also committed to the environment. He ate no food made with preservatives. Everything he ate had to be natural. Except for allowing an occasional pot of pasta on his stove, he allowed few cooks in his kitchen (after all, what could they do to pasta?). He worked outside and was always strong and physically fit. He never smoked. He may have enjoyed a sip of Doc’s wine on occasion, but nothing more.

Along with his pickup truck loaded with fresh fruit, vegetables and potatoes, “Uncle Mike” always brought a peaceful presence to family and friends he visited. It is with this memory, as vivid as yesterday, that they knew they were in the presence of someone really special.

A pillar of the community, Mike was a well-known and respected farmer thought by all to be generous, kind, humble, and a hard-working person who proudly cultivated the Fruscione Farm for more than 80 years, located on Pine Tree Road, just south of Hartly, Delaware

A private service will be held on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019 at the Fruscione Farm at 11:30 a.m.