Franklin Delano Ceruti

Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Delano Ceruti, U.S. Air Force (retired), a husband, father, friend, Christian and honorable man, passed away peacefully on Oct. 13, 2025, with family at his side. He was 90.
Gifted in many ways, Frank was an electrical engineer, computer scientist, software and network consultant, artificial intelligence chess programmer, Vietnam veteran and 20-year career Air Force officer.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Frank grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section, spending most of his time at 955 St. Marks Avenue. He attended P.S. 41 elementary school and was selected for an accelerated program at Junior High School 210 that allowed gifted students to skip the first half of eighth grade. He went on to attend Boys High School in Brooklyn, one of the best academic high schools in the city. There, he excelled both in the classroom and on the track field under legendary coach Sid "Doc" Elstein. The year he graduated, the Boys High track team won both the Indoor and Outdoor City Championships. He was fast, so he was offered a scholarship to North Carolina College. He declined. "I was a New Yorker; what would I do in North Carolina?" he said of the decision. It was not until his friends went south for college that he considered following suit.
Working 12 hours a day and attending Brooklyn College at night, Frank decided there had to be something better. Miraculously, in January 1955, Frank received a call from a former high school classmate who had gone away to Tougaloo Southern Christian College (now Tougaloo College) in Tougaloo, Mississippi. The classmate explained the college's track coach was seeking two quarter-mile runners to round out the mile relay team, and asked if Frank and another friend, Harvey, could go to Tougaloo to fill the gap. The following weekend, Harvey and Frank took off for Mississippi in Frank's 1949 Ford.
Upon their arrival at the house of the dean, Dr. Samuel Kincheloe, they learned they had missed a telegram advising them not to come to Tougaloo because the college was unable to fund their tuition, room, and board. The college somehow found the money, however, and Frank and Harvey enrolled in the school. Frank, a mathematics and physics major, earned academic scholarships, made the dean's list in each of his four years at the college, and graduated with honors in 1959.
Frank then enrolled in New York University (NYU). At some point, he learned manual Morse code and became a ham radio operator.
After a year at NYU, Frank decided to join the Air Force. In 1961, he was selected to attend the Air Force Officer Training School and upon graduation, was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He spent more than a year in technical training at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi to become a communications maintenance officer. His first duty assignment was to Strategic Air Command (SAC) headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, where he led a team of computer programmers in developing communications interface software for the 465L Command & Control System. It was at SAC that he met Lieutenant Rolf Smith, who was assigned to the same software development group.
In 1967, the Air Force selected Frank and Rolf, now both captains, for an Air Force Institute of Technology program to pursue master's degrees in computer science at Texas A&M University. As a joint thesis project, Frank and Rolf co-authored one of the first mainframe chess programs, SCHACH (Smith-Ceruti Heuristic-Algorithmic Chess), which means "chess" in German. The two quickly became best friends. SCHACH played in the first-ever computer-vs.-computer match with the Greenblatt program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969. Ceruti earned a Master of Computer Science degree on the topic of computer chess (artificial intelligence) under advisors Dr. A.W. Wortham and Dr. Udo Pooch. He also completed post-master's degree work in industrial engineering at Texas A&M.
A Vietnam veteran, Frank served at Tan San Nhut Air Base from 1969 to 1970. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, a wartime decoration, for his service.
In 1971, he served as the first military member of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) protocol committee. ARPANET was the precursor to the Internet. He consulted with Steve Crocker, an American internet pioneer, to design and develop a software interface between an ARPANET Interface Message Processor and an Air Force Univac 418 computer, making it possible for programs running on the computer to send large bulk data files over the network. Crocker tells the story of Frank picking him up from the airport and starting a conversation about artificial intelligence (Al was still obscure in 1971) and SCHACH. "I was glad I was not driving. I would have run off the road," Crocker said of the encounter.
Frank was assigned to installations across the country, including an assignment with the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., and two later assignments in Europe. After serving his country in uniform for more than 20 years, he retired from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Following retirement, he became a software development consultant and joined Rolf Smith again in Germany, this time developing system software for the NATO Command & Control System. Frank immediately applied for a Jagdschein (German hunting license) and hunted with Rolf all over Germany.
He returned to Texas and in 1985 entered the Department of Defense civil service as an artificial intelligence software developer. There, he once again joined Rolf, now a colonel and director of long-range planning in the Electronic Security Command in San Antonio.
Frank, a civic-minded person, was the first African American to be elected to the Selma City Council in 1999 and served as president of the East Bexar County Optimist Club. He was a life member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. after joining the organization in 1957. He was named the Psi Alpha Chapter Omega Man of the Year in 1989 and an Unsung Hero in 1992 for his tireless work on behalf of the organization.
A fierce advocate for higher learning, Frank was a founding member, president, and the incorporator of the Psi Alpha Scholarship Foundation, Inc., which has awarded thousands in college scholarships to local San Antonio-area students since its incorporation in 1991. Always ready to help students in need, he, and several of his Tougaloo classmates, established the Tougaloo College Class of 1959, Inc., a charitable nonprofit in 2004 to assist students with books and tuition.
Frank loved sports. In 1984, while in Germany, he took the Berlin Duty Train to West Berlin, travelling through Soviet Union controlled East Germany, to run the Berlin Marathon, and later that year ran the Bill Rodgers Half Marathon in Frankfurt. He held season tickets with the San Antonio Spurs for 26 years, the San Antonio Silver Stars for 14 years, and the San Antonio Football Club for 10 years.
He became active in a local Boy Scout troop, helping his son, John-Anthony, earn the rank of Eagle Scout, and coached Catholic Youth Organization soccer, basketball, and baseball teams. He enjoyed playing tennis, racquetball, and squash.
He was an enthusiastic genealogical researcher. He traced his paternal grandmother's family to 1600s France and Belgium, even connecting with a cousin, Rolande Carton, in France. He traced his paternal grandfather's family to Sardinia, Italy and Ragged Island, Bahamas.
Frank was an avid deer hunter. He and Rolf Smith began hunting together while at Texas A&M. Later, Frank bought 18 acres of land next to Rolf's ranch in the Texas Hill Country and built a hunting cabin.
At age 86, Frank began piano lessons and had his last lesson on Aug. 18, 2025. At 89, he went back to school, auditing an advanced English composition course in which he wrote humorous and engaging short stories. At 90, he was still writing love letters to Monica, the last penned on Aug. 21, 2025. Frank loved to travel, and in July 2025, he and Monica went to Nassau, Bahamas, fulfilling a dream they had long shared.
Frank led a full and accomplished life.
Frank was preceded in death by his parents, Frederick Lawrence Rae Ceruti, Sr., and Dolores Claudia Shaw Gravenhise Ceruti; his brother, Frederick Lawrence Rae Ceruti, Jr.; and his son, Franklin Delano Ceruti, Jr.
He is survived by his loving wife of more than 40 years, Monica Allison-Ceruti, and their sons, Mychal and John-Anthony; daughters from previous relationships: Francine D. Ellison and Gwendolyn Ceruti; daughters from his first marriage: Monique Ceruti, Tracey Bennett and Kimberly Hall; sons-in-law, Shedrick L. Bennett, Jr. and Anthony Hall; grandchildren: William Vincent, Jessica Bennett, Shedrick L. Bennett III, Viktoria Hall, Elijah Hall and Mahaylah Ceruti; his very best friends, Rolf and Julie Smith; goddaughters, Amy Smith-Delambre and Amanda Smith Graves; numerous nieces and nephews; cousins, including Vickey Gravenhise Greene and Allen Higgs Nicholson; many friends, and fraternity brothers.