Frank Ochab, 96 of Wayne, died peacefully on Thursday, January 19, 2017. Frank had lived in Garfield for eighty-six years before moving to Wayne in 2006.

Frank’s true home was Garfield. He grew up there and lived for the first eighty-six years of his life within an area of about one square mile. At eighteen years old, he took a job with Tenneco Chemical (the company name changed a few times throughout the decades) and he remained there until retiring at age sixty; forty-two years with the same company!

Frank was very proud of his Polish heritage and he enjoyed the Garfield community immensely. He recalled his childhood there with fondness and was just recently telling stories about grabbing the back bumper of the city bus and sliding on the snow-covered road as the bus dragged him and his friends around town! The youngest child of eight, Frank was the baby of the family but certainly not the runt! He was a standout athlete, a fantastic third-baseman, and he excelled in many sports. He remained a loyal Yankees fan throughout his entire life and always held Joe DiMaggio in high esteem. Frank was generally the quiet type, but when he did choose to speak, he was deeply insightful and very bright, although his wife usually did most of the talking. Frank was always happiest in his garden. Gladys used to complain a bit because when he arrived home from work, he would go straight to his garden and tend to the plants before even saying “hello!” Frank was such an incredible gardener however, that his family came to appreciate his talents. He grew the most splendid vegetables, and flowers too. He could have easily been a professional farmer of award winning crops…except for his peas; he always struggled to grow peas. What Frank never learned was that his kids were eating the peas right off the plants during the day, and by the time he arrived home from work to check on his garden, there were simply no peas to be found on the otherwise healthy plants. Of course, even if he had learned the reason for this mystery, it would not have changed how incredibly proud he was of his children and their families.

Frank met his wife Gladys at a community dance in Garfield. Gladys rejected his initial advances on several occasions because he was simply too young for her, despite the fact that they were born just seven days apart! Coincidentally, they had been baptized as little babies at the same church, on the same day, and eventually Gladys warmed up to him. They were married on May 4, 1946 at St. Joseph’s Church, Passaic, the same church they had been baptized in, and they settled into their family home in Garfield. The two of them were a great couple and they did everything together. They traveled a bit, enjoyed summer vacations in Wildwood, NJ, and they had a ‘country retreat’ in Branchville, NJ that they used to enjoy escaping to every so often. Nevertheless, they enjoyed sixty years together before Gladys passed away in 2006.

After Gladys passed away, Frank moved to Siena Village in Wayne. It took him about six months living there before he came out of his shell and began to socialize. In short order, he made many new friends and enjoyed being treated like the honorary Mayor of Siena Village. As a widower, “Frankie” was especially grateful to receive the attention of a few ladies who brought him fresh baked cookies and meals. But, as he told his daughter one day; “the women here in their 80’s are much too young for me,” and he remaining lovingly faithful to his dearly departed Gladys.

Frank is survived by his loving children; Maryann Pilson and her husband Paul of Wayne, Thomas Ochab and his wife Catherine of DeBary, Florida, and Wanda Pawlak and her husband Anthony of Garfield, six grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his dear Gladys in 2006 and by all seven of his siblings.