Obituary for Frank W. Furtak
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Frank W. Furtak, 89, of Murphysboro, passed away at 11:21 p.m. Saturday, July 21, 2018, at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, Illinois.
Frank was born on April 12, 1929, in Chicago, Illinois, to Frank Adam Furtak and Victoria (Makawska) Furtak.
He had worked as a foreman for a paper manufacturing company.
Frank was a life long Cubs fan and Chicago Bulls fan. He loved to read, draw and fish, and enjoyed woodworking. He was a great pinochle player. He was an avid Western aficionado and he was a superb storyteller. He loved his grandchildren and great grandchildren and was a very compassionate board game loser to this grandchildren.
Mr. Furtak was a member of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Murphysboro.
He served in the U.S. Army-Air Corps between World War II and The Korean Conflict. He modeled the first Air Force blues for President Truman, when the Army-Air Corps became the U.S. Air Force.
Frank married Patricia "Pat" Laz on April 30, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois and she survives.
Other survivors include four children Michael (Wendy Biggerstaff) Furtak of Iron River, Wis., Susan (Ronald) Roeser of McHenry, IL, Paul (Lisa) Furtak of Carterville, and Kathy (Matthew) Burchett of Vero Beach, FL;
eleven grandchildren Kate, Sara, Andrew, Jarrett, Nikki, Sammy, Lindsay, Nathan, Matthew, Danielle, and Gabriel;
two great grandchildren Aryanna and Mae:
and two sisters Jean Grod of Barrington, IL and Theresa O'Keeffe of Orland Park, IL.
He was preceded in death by three sisters and his parents.
A Funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 26, 2018, at St. Andrew Catholic Church with Father Gary Gummersheimer officiating and burial at St. Andrew Cemetery with military services conducted by the Paul Stout American Legion Post # 127. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and until 9:45 a.m. Thursday at Pettett Funeral Home. A Prayer Service held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. The family would prefer memorials to the St. Francis CARE-Animal Shelter. For more information, please visit www.pettettfuneralhome.com.