THOMAS FRONCEK

Thomas Froncek, beloved husband, father, son, and brother, passed away on July 8th, 2009 at the age of 66. Tom was born in Milwaukee on July 30th, 1942. While attending the University of WisconsinMadison he worked as a stringer for the Milwaukee Journal. After graduating with a BA in Journalism, he moved to London where he worked as a reporter for The Tablet and for the London bureau of Time Magazine, where he attended a press conference for Martin Luther King and stood deathwatch for Winston Churchill. After a move to New York City for a job as a reporter for Life Magazine he met his wife, Ellen Kahn. He later earned an MA from the University of Kent at Canterbury and relocated to New York City, where he worked as an editor for American Heritage Magazine, and where he and Ellen welcomed a son, Jesse. Tom went on to spend twentyfive years at Reader's Digest, becoming Managing Editor for Select Editions. Tom was an avid explorer, writer of several books, and an enjoyer of life who delighted in doing good. He had a great appreciation for art, loved to hike and garden, and developed a passion for sailing late in life, which he chronicled in A Splendid Madness: a man, a boat, a love story. Tom was an active member of his community, serving for nine years as a volunteer at Jewish Family Services of Rockland County. He was a member of the Association of American Publishers/Right to Publish Committee, and served on the board of his synagogue, Temple Beth El of Portland, Maine. He was also a member of Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. Tom is survived by his wife Ellen, of Portland, Maine, his son and daughter-in-law, Jesse and April, both of Brooklyn, New York, his mother, Alice, of Hudson, Wisconsin, his sister and brother-in-law, Joyce and Richard Law, also of Hudson, Wisconsin, and his brother and sister-in-law, Michael and Dee, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is predeceased by his beloved daughter-in-law Linda. Funeral services will held on Friday, July 10th, 11am, at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Putnam Valley, New York.