Obituary of Francis Edward Smolen

Francis Edward Smolen, 95, of Melbourne, FL, took his final flight on January 20, 2018. Born in Unionville, CT on July 15, 1922, he was the son of the late Joseph K. and Katerina Mary (Mikolajcik) Smolen. Frank enlisted in the Navy during World War II and became a photo-reconnaissance pilot for which he earned seven medals including a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal with 4 Gold Stars. After the war, Frank graduated from Tulane University and took on various non-combat roles for the Navy, including managing an aeronautical instruments laboratory and piloting a United States survey team mapping the Arabian Peninsula, an expedition that was written up in National Geographic Magazine. Frank retired from the Navy as a lieutenant commander several years after marrying the love of his life, Marguerite Mary “Peggy” Wareham, and became an account executive with Smith Barney Harris Upham and later, Merrill Lynch. The couple and their four children resided in Toms River, NJ where Frank was involved with various fraternal organizations, including the Optimist Club, played golf at the Toms River Country Club, and enjoyed taking his family camping and sailing. Frank retired from his second career to Florida, where he became an officer and lifetime member of the St. Augustine Rod and Gun Club and later lived for 11 years with his daughter Regina Major and her family in Sebastian. During his final two years of life, he resided at a dementia care facility in Melbourne, where he enjoyed visits from family. Known as a generous, kind person and “a friend to all,” he was predeceased by his wife and his son Frank and is survived by his daughters Marguerite and Regina Major (David), his son Richard (Kathy), and five grandchildren, Elizabeth, Andrew, and William Major and Stefan and Richard Alexander “Alex” Smolen. A funeral will be held 10 a.m. March 2 at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea in Unionville, CT, followed by a military service and burial 12:30 p.m. March 3 at St. John Neumann Cemetery, Chalfont, PA. Donations in lieu of flowers to Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at https://www.alzinfo.org/memory.