FRANK A. ARCHINACO

ARCHINACO FRANK A.
Frank A. Archinaco, former President and CEO of PPG's Automotive Glass and Services and Senior Executive Vice President of PPG, passed away on February 17, 2011 at his home in Sewickley, Pennsylvania surrounded by family. He was 67. Frank was born into humble roots in Elizabeth, NJ on December 10, 1943, the first son of four children to Pauline and Albert Archinaco, first generation U.S. citizens. He was immediately referred to as "the General" by the nurses at the hospital, as he was nearly ten pounds at birth, and so much larger than the other children. The comparisons at birth would serve to foreshadow the remainder of his life. His parents operated a diner in Elizabeth where the family resided in the Italian neighborhood. Eventually, through success at the diner, the family graduated to a two family apartment. Frank and his parents resided in one apartment, while his mother's sister, Maggie and her family resided in the other. Although the title of "cousin" was given to them by law, the children were all raised as brothers and sisters. Frank, along with his brothers James and Paul, and sister Nancy, were joined in their daily adventures by cousins, Jamie, Theresa and Georgie. They played together in Warinanco Park, on the Atlantic City boardwalk and at Coney Island. Frank attended Sacred Heart High School in Elizabeth where he was known as "Archie.” He studied and, on the weekends, assisted his family by working at the diner. He was voted class president his senior year in high school. Frank attended Villanova University, the first in his family to attend college, and graduated in 1965 with honors. He was classmates with the legendary folk singer Jim Croce, who he played cards with in Sullivan Hall. He subsequently achieved his MBA at Seton Hall University and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. In 1965, Frank joined PPG as a management trainee in Newark, NJ. His first day of work was spent loading boxes onto the back of a truck. He later remarked that it was "not the start to my career that I was hoping for." Within a month, a supervisor discussed firing Frank because he had made a paperwork blunder. His then supervisor was quoted as saying: "If this kid doesn't have it, we should get rid of him now." Within several years, Frank was elevated to his detractor's boss. In 1966, Frank was married to Arlene Bigotto. Work carried them from New Jersey to Scranton, PA. There, their son Jason was born in 1970. A promotion carried him and his family to Rhode Island. Thereafter, he was promoted to manage facilities in Puerto Rico, where he met his future wife Jennifer Badrena. He was shortly promoted back to Pittsburgh. There, in 1976, he had a catastrophic fall from a ladder while fixing a window on his home. He suffered a concussion, broken arm, leg and shattered hip. He dragged himself to his front door to call for help and, after a lengthy hospital stay, recovered albeit with a significant limp for much of the remainder of his life. Future promotions ultimately carried him and his family to Chicago, where his second son Christopher was born in 1978. An additional promotion took the family back to Pittsburgh. In 1984, Frank was offered the opportunity to head PPG's operations in Europe. He regarded the opportunity as the test of his career: if he succeeded, he had a future in the company. If he failed, his management career would come to an end. Although PPG's European operations had been losing millions of dollars for several years, he accepted the challenge. After his first year in Europe, PPG's operations swung to a significant profit and he had been identified as a future leader of the company. In 1986, his success in Europe was met with another promotion and return to Pittsburgh as vice president of automotive original equipment glass products. In 1988, Frank married Linda Braun, to whom he remained married for the rest of his life. In 1991, he was named vice president of automotive and aircraft glass. He informed his son Jason, while playing golf that: "this is the last promotion I will ever receive." He was uncharacteristically wrong. In 1994 he was promoted to lead the glass division of PPG, as senior vice president of glass. In 1997, he was elevated to senior executive vice president for the entire company. In 2002, at the age of 58, Frank opted for an early retirement to spend more time with his family. From the age of 58 until the age of 62, he spent considerable time with his sons, his wife Linda, her children Kristen and her husband Steve, Laurette and her husband John, and Karen her husband Fred, as well as his grandchildren Samantha, Matthew and Grant, often at his vacation home in Hilton Head, S.C. In 2008, Frank emerged from retirement to return to PPG as president and chief executive officer of the auto glass and services business. At the same time, he served as a management consultant to a number of companies and as Chairman of the Board of the coatings company Aculon. Aculon has named their top employee service award for honesty, integrity and leadership after him. Frank passionately loved to play golf and played at nearly every top 100 golf course in the world, as well as many others. His favorites included Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, Ballybunion and his home course of Allegheny Country Club. His handicap peaked at an 8. His exceptional play under pressure in tournaments labeled him, jokingly, as a sandbagger. Those that knew him well knew that he never cheated at golf. For nearly his entire career at golf, a hole-in-one had eluded him. However, on October 3, 2009, with friends by his side, he scored a hole-in-one with a five iron at Allegheny Country Club's eighth hole. Almost exactly one year later, Frank was diagnosed with terminal, inoperable, metastasized pancreatic cancer. He promised his friends and family that he would, despite the incurable nature of the disease: "fight to my last breath to beat this disease." He fought to his last breath, as he promised he would. Frank was known for his honesty, integrity and straight-forward management style. He believed that honesty and integrity were earned over a lifetime, but could be lost in a second. He forever adhered to the work ethic that his parents instilled in him, wisdom that he imparted to his family and friends. He was charismatic, charming, clowning and joking. His jovial spirit earned him the nick name "the needle" because of his pointed teasing with his friends. He was known as a leader, mentor and a hero to many. He never forgot his humble roots in the Italian neighborhood, the challenges he confronted and overcame or the prejudice he faced as an Italian-American early in his life. Because of that, he was known as a great communicator whose vision and message transcended racial and socio-economic divides. Despite all of his personal success, Frank viewed his own success as secondary to that of his sons, Jason, an attorney, and Christopher, a computer engineer. He took great pride in their success and marriages, Jason to Paula and Christopher to Margaret. "I have lived a very rich life," Frank said to friends when diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He attributed his rich life to his family and friends, all of whom he cherished immensely. Frank is survived by his wife Linda; his sons, Jason and his wife Paula, Christopher and his wife Margaret and their unborn child; his brother James and wife Susanne, Paul and his wife Debbie, and his sister Nancy; his cousins that he regarded as brothers and sisters, Jamie, Theresa and Georgie; his nephew that he regarded as a son, John; his step-daughters Kristen, Laurette and Karen; his grandchildren Samantha, Matthew and Grant; as well as numerous cousins that he viewed as his nephews and nieces. Frank also leaves behind his close friends, many that he regarded as his brothers. Family and Friends welcome Saturday and Sunday 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. at WILLIAM SLATER II FUNERAL SERVICE, 1650 Greentree Road, Scott Township. Services and interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in his memory to The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.