Mark I. Frizell

Mark Frizell Obituary

Mark I. Frizell. 57 Mark I. Frizell, on February 22, 2012, age 57, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was the former owner of the Broadway Cafe in Clifton Heights. He was an avid fisherman and a great chef. Survivors: Husband of Judith (nee Spangler); beloved father of Alexandria Frizell; brother of Geraldine Rosenberg, Robert E. Jr., David, Michael, K'leen Cucugliello, Annemarie Burke and Regina Simmons; also survived by many nieces and nephews. Memorial Service Saturday 12:30 PM in the Frank C. Videon Funeral Home, Sproul & Lawrence Rds., Broomall. Calling in the funeral home after 11 AM. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to the American Cancer Society, 1626 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103 or Wissahickon Hospice, 150 Monument Rd., Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004. Interment private.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Daily Times from Feb. 23 to Feb. 24, 2012.

Memories and Condolences
for Mark Frizell

Sponsored by discipulus vita.

10 Entries

Kathleen Bilgutay

October 9, 2018

I only just learned of the passing of M Frizell, father of Alex, my highly cherished UDHS French student.
While cleaning a kitchen cupboard today, I happened upon a long-hidden letter from M Frizell.
The letter includes his recipe for Mousse au Chocolat à la Drexel Hill, a treat Alex shared with her French classmates and me. Besides the amazing recipe, M Frizell thanked me for having inspired Alex to study French. The truth is actually the opposite - Alex inspired me to be the best teacher I could be.
Alex, I learned from reading his obituary that your father led an extraordinarily rich and intellectual life.
And now I learn from another condolence message that you use French in your daily life. Knowing that is is an incalculable treasure which I will always cherish.
Belated thanks, M Frizell, for having fathered and nurtured the unique jewel, Alex.
I will remember you as I attempt to recreate your magnificent Mousse au chocolat à la Drexel Hill.

Ed MacDonald

May 15, 2012

Pasta, I will miss you, and the "Garden", and Bob Dylan.
Mac Denver, CO

David Hood

April 30, 2012

I was just informed of Marks passing. I am a Kazoo brother and lived while pledging in Marks room. I remember years later going with a group of Kazoo brothers to his Broadway Cafe and having a great time. We lost touch in the years after that and for that I feel badly. He will be missed.

r f

March 10, 2012

FOR MARK
Friends Family Countrymen lend me your hearts We come today, not to bury Mark, but to celebrate him.
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH DANTE'S INFERNO
1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS MARK TWAIN PLATO HOMER
SOPHOCLES ---------------------A list of a few titles and authors of the books off Marks shelf
Mark Ignatious Frizell was born August 30, 1954. He was the fifth child of nine, born to Robert and Kathleen Frizell of National Park N.J. Mark is the first of us nine to pass on. Mark graduated from St. Mathews Elementary School, Gloucester Catholic High, and Rutgers Camden with a BA in history, and a minor in Art History. Mark went on to the The Culinary
FOR MARK
Institute of America. Cooking and history, were two of my brothers life's passions. I visited him three or four times at the Culinary. One of those times I took the train up to Poughkeepsie and he and I traveled through N.Y. State and Canada for 11 days.--- Mark spoke pretty good french or kitchen French, and from that trip forward I was Mon Frere--The dishes he prepared, in a campground, were astounding. He was so happy there, at the CIA. A young man, full of promise doing exactly what he wanted to. When I was a baby I had terrible eczema and was not allowed to cry because the PJ's would stick to me. Bob would hit David, David would hit Mike, Michael would hit Mark, and Mark was not allowed to hit Richard. I became a brat and after about two years of this I was on the mend; and I forget what I did to him, but I remember my mother saying HIT HIM Mark HIT HIM. And he did. Like a good big brother he beat me up when I needed it for the next 12 or so years. When I was 16 we were at Jacks Diner and we got into a fight. I had grown to be bigger than him and simply overpowered him to the ground. “Well I guess that's that!” he said and from then on I was his bigger little brother. But he would always be my big
FOR MARK
brother. That was 40 years ago and I do not think there was ever a another cross word between us. My God I loved him so much.
He subscribed to the Wall Street Journal and Scientific America. He taught me to do the puzzle page in blue ink so there would be a contrast with the news print. Todays cryptogram??? He loved Tom Waitts, Bob Dylan, Carmina Burana and Stravinski's The Rite of Spring,. And he loved to fish. My goodness,. Talk of a life's passion. In season he would not need to learn where the tide was. He had the tidal charts in his head. I went with him to the new Cabella's up in Hamburg Pa. to buy his first rod making kit. If you have a Mark Frizell rod you have a treasure. I can hear him asking mom? can I go fishing? Mom would say yes, take the dog. Aw mom, the dog jumps in the water--- Take the dog--- And down Simpson Ave. they would go. A boy his fishing rod and Rabbies, our big black German Shepard. The memory is reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting or a Rob Reiner movie, and in many ways that is what our childhood was like. We had parents who loved us fiercely without condition, and that was usually enough. Sometimes I would go fishing with him. I would bug him though. I did not have the patience to sit
FOR MARK
quietly for hours. He loved it. We all would be building forts, or whatever, and Mark would be off fishing alone. He liked his privacy and solitude. He Lived in his Frat House at Rutger's, Kazoo, Kappa Sigma Upsilon, in Camden for 5 years and was the only brother with his own room, no roommate. He loved that fraternity; His brothers. Studying the histories of the world; and they loved him. In his junior and senior years the underclass men and then his peers called him mother. Mother? I asked the first time I heard it. Yes he chuckled, I Love it. He cooked for them, and told them if their etiquette was amiss. They welcomed me too. I slept there, a 100 times, and his other brothers were okay with that. He was blinded in his right eye in that frathouse by a stupid kid with a roman candle. He loved it still.
I don't remember when after that incident, we played our first game of pool, but I made a comment about how it sucked that the game was taken from him. ( mark had an quizzical eye and an evil eye) He laughed and told me to dream on. In his best Mr. Spock, he said “He was always, and would always be, the better shot”. And so he was. When we could, we looked for a way to spend regular time together and when in 2003 he called and said he had gotten me a spot on the Clifton Inn pool team, I jumped at the
FOR MARK
opportunity. There we were again The Frizell brothers, middle aged now, wielding cue sticks. We did not win all of our matches but most. Those times now, are as cherished as they were then. When I moved into North East Philly in 2007 I was a first time dad at 51 and late nights at the bar an hours drive away were not on the menu. I had to give it up.
Mark wrote a lot of menus in his lifetime. His pallet was like no other. He would taste a dish, a complex stew,--- a marinade, or a rub, and name every ingredient. Olive oil, balsamic, garlic, oregano, tarragon--- salt, pepper, a little sugar hmmm and a little honey. There is a dash of turmeric and a bit of cinnamon, and something else hmmm -- like two drops of tabasco. he was amazing here, We eat and say mmmm thats tasty. He celebrated food. He knew the science, the chemistry of how and why an egg cooked. He could tell how others built their menus. He knew all of the math too. Wherever he worked he could tell you exactly what his cost were. Product cost, labor cost, overhead cost, which brings me to the his Marks Broadway Cafe Inc.
FOR MARK
Thank you Ellis and David. Mark had a dream, a dream he spoke of when he was a short order cook working his way through college in a little greasy spoon truck stop called Jacks Diner---the beautiful incubator of a chef to be, to have his own white tablecloth restaurant. Mark Frizell is a man who lived to see his dream come true, and for ten years the Broadway Cafe was his. And, it was his. There were some mistakes about the Broadway, location location--to do what he did where he did it was only achievable by the very best. He turned a biker bar into a highly respected very well reviewed restaurant. I was there with him. I tended bar at the broadway for about 8 of those ten years. Snapper soup.---Whole in the shell 20 pound snapper turtles on his work bench. Who does that? They were stinky! Steak with bone marrow sauce (bourdealaise) it was so delicious, Cream of Mary Stewart soup, pork Robert, a mustard sauce my brother the historian told me was the oldest written classical sauce.
Mark was all about the classics. they were the truth to him, the historian. (Museum story) Alex held the story of the great flood carved in stone in cuneiform. He was so strong within.
Sure and confident in who HE was
FOR MARK
He was so honest. He was fiercely loyal. He worked so hard. 60 hours a week average for the last 30 years Like his father, he loved playing the ponies. (Dads books) The Phillies shooting pool he liked to sing with his family ---Choir from 4th grade thru college His crossword puzzles A founding member of the Clifton Hgt's philosophical society. A lion of the Lions club
My best man's toast for Mark and Judy's wedding
And if the cup you drink, the lip you press; ends as all things begin and end.
yes remember that you are, what here to fore you were for hereafter you shall not be less
FOR MARK
From Omar Kayam I think I understand it better today than I did then He was my big brother. last summer I sent him an email. I asked if he would die or fight this out-- his reply---
“Die? theres beer in the fridg, fish in the water, women all over. Could get hit by a bus walking out of the hospital. Play with , or grunt at{Emmet} your own grandkids. Life is not a lie, it is whatever truth you make it. this is the only hand I will be dealt, Gotta play it, I refuse to fold.”
It was his 57th birthday.
He was so stubborn. But, cancer is what it is. If it's got you, it's got you. He fought it so hard, and it's not fair. life is not fair. In the end he did fold. As will we all.
Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alexandria Regina Frizell, Named for the ancient city with the worlds greatest Library. . I WANT YOU TO KNOW YOUR GRANDCHILDREN!!!!. I heard you scold him a hundred times. Who knows-- He so adored you, cherished you, You were his greatest pride. He was so like HIS father in that he did not tell you. You were expected to know it through his actions. He told me. He was so proud of the girl that became the woman. Your full academic scholarship to Bryn Mawr College.
FOR MARK
The fact that you earn a living speaking French. That made him smile so. He was so happy that you found Roger; and Roger found you, he was very secure in your future. I know how hard it was for you to see him go. For you to watch this intellectual giant slip away. Please have your children and I will try to be a granduncle to them.
Lastly, Regina and K'leen. Florence Nightingale Simmons and Clara Barton Cucugliello. Our sisters gave so much to our brother these past 7 month's. To their brother. To a brother who because of the career he chose, they only saw 1 or three times a year for the last 30 years. selfless selfless selfless. You make your parents so proud. Thank you thank you thank you for taking such good care of your big brother. My, big brother Mark

k c

February 26, 2012

Mark was a good soul. He loved his family very much. He also loved fishing and reading. He was the best chef I've every met. I will miss him terribly.

Andrea Morgan

February 25, 2012

I was deeply saddened to hear of Mark passing. Judy and Alex, I'm so sorry for your loss. I couldn't agree more with Nick's message. Mark definetly shaped the person I am today. I often think of him and his Don Quixote and Kung Fu quotes. We were not just employees and coworkers at The Broadway, we were family. I always think of the good times we had just on a normal work night. Now I realize how spoiled we were. I really miss being fed an amazing dinner before starting my shift. He gave me the name "Grasshopper" and I am still called that to this day. I will forever be grateful for the life lessons he taught me and the memories I will always cherish. Thank you Mark.
Sincerely your Grasshopper,
Andrea

February 25, 2012

What sadness I felt after learing about Mark.It brought back so many wonderful memories , laughs, and 'problems solved' while I worked for he and Judy at the famous Broadway Cafe. They gave me my start in the business and a real boost in my personal life as well. I will always remember our times together with a smile.Love to you Judy & Alex........fondly, Carl Wright

Nicholas Insogna

February 24, 2012

To Judy and Alex...Mark was an amazing person. I am so sorry for your loss and pray that your spirits stay strong during this hard time...In 1993, my sophomore year of high school, I began working at The Broadway. Little did I know that the job I had prepping food/washing dishes 2 nights a week would shape the person who I am today. Mark not only taught me skills needed to survive in his kitchen, he also taught me life lessons that were invisible at the time. Work ethic, trust, HUMILITY, accountability, dependability, and how to be just a stand up guy were all passed along to me in that kitchen. He not only taught these lessons to myself but to most of his other young employees (depending on what he thought of you). I'm sure Tony, Brian, and Andrea, where ever they are today, will all admit to owing part of who they are to Mark. During the years I spent in that kitchen, I like to believe our working relationship turned into a friendship and many fun times have entered my thoughts over the years. Thank you Mark. Cheers

Jackie Livingston Hartney

February 24, 2012

Where to begin? At a fragile time in my life , about 20 years ago, I went to work at The Broadway Cafe. Never since then have I loved or appreciated a job more. It was a safe haven, a true work family that went above and beyond. I cherish my memories of that time and the wonderful atmosphere that Mark and Judy created.
Mark was an amazing, smart and talented individual with a huge heart and a great sense of humor. So many laughs!so much comfort given and of course amazing cooking skills learned.
Love to Alex, Judy and all of Mark's family.
What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. ~ Helen Keller

Dave Eckard

February 24, 2012

My condolonces to Judy and Anexandria on the loss of your husband and father. I remember with fondness the many times my family and I enjoyed Mark's outstanding offerings at the Broadway Cafe. It was a favorite of my late mother, in no small part because of the personal greetings. Mark had a gift of making his guests feel like family.

Showing 1 - 10 of 10 results