Frank August Benardella, born on July 5, 1932, in Englewood, N.J., passed away on Jan. 30, 2010, at his home in Millstone Township. Visiting hours will be held at the Higgins Memorial Home, 20 Center St., Freehold, on Monday and Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home on Wednesday at 11 a.m. with Rev. Gregory J. Pike officiating. The interment will follow at United Presbyterian Church of Millstone Cemetery, Millstone Township. Frank graduated from Tenafly High School and received his B.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict and was honorably discharged in 1952. Frank retired from Goody Products (Newell/Rubbermaid) as a senior vice-president in 1993, and devoted his time to his lifelong passion of growing, exhibiting and hybridizing roses. He served many offices of national, district and local rose societies, and was a past-president of the American Rose Society. Miniature roses hybridized by Frank brought him national and international acclaim. Frank is survived by his wife of 55 years, June; his daughters, Karen Taft and Jane Corwin; his grandchildren, Brett and Kristin Taft, and Justin Corwin, and his brother, Edward. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Rose Society, P.O. Box 30,000, Shreveport, La., or to the CentraState Medical Center, 901 W. Main St., Freehold N.J. 07728.
Published in Star-Ledger on February 1, 2010