Attorney did justice to symphony, music
A memorial service is scheduled this week for Frank J. Gaffney, a prominent Pittsburgh attorney and a former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony's board of directors.
The service for Mr. Gaffney, who died Oct. 22, 2001, of complications from a cerebral hemorrhage in Grassina, Italy, will be at 10 a.m. Nov. 10 at Ryan Catholic Newman Center, Pittsburgh Oratory, 4450 Bayard St., Oakland.
Mr. Gaffney, a partner with the law firm of Thorp Reed & Armstrong, Downtown, specialized in international trade and corporate and real estate law.
He also was remembered for his dedication to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. During the 1970s, he served on the executive committee of the symphony's board of directors.
Mr. Gaffney also was a past president of Gateway to Music, making it possible for public school pupils in the city to experience performances of ballet and classical music.
Joan Apt, a longtime board member of the Pittsburgh Symphony, recalled the 1970s and 1980s, when she and her husband, Jerry, were neighbors of the Gaffneys.
"Music was an important part of Frank's life," Apt said. "Frank would have chamber music in his home and invite neighbors and friends."
Apt also remembered Mr. Gaffney as a warm and caring person who lived for his family.
"He was a real family man," Apt said. "I can still remember when his children were little and how he would introduce them to guests and make them feel they were part of what was taking place."
Friends, including Mildred "Mid" Paulus, also recalled Mr. Gaffney's love of music and his involvement with the Pittsburgh Symphony.
"We were introduced to Frank after his marriage to Lotti Falk," Paulus said. "He was a very kind man who loved classical music.
"In fact, one afternoon when Frank and Lotti invited John and myself to their apartment for brunch, we listened to classical music throughout the entire afternoon," Paulus said.
Mr. Gaffney, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, attended St. Joseph's Preparatory School and St. Joseph's College. Following his graduation from college in 1942, he enlisted in the Navy; as a line officer aboard a fleet oiler ship, he saw duty in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Discharged from the Navy in 1946, Mr. Gaffney, with the help of the G.I. Bill of Rights, attended Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia, where in 1949 he received his law degree and was a clerk for former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice John Drew.
Shortly after arriving in Pittsburgh in 1952 to practice law, Mr. Gaffney married Virginia Reed. They made their home in Shadyside. Virginia Gaffney died in 1991, and two years later he married Pittsburgh socialite Lotti Falk.
A year ago this month, Frank and Lotti Gaffney moved to Grassina, where they had a home. Grassina is near Florence in the province of Tuscany.
Mr. Gaffney is survived by his wife, Lotti Falk Gaffney; daughters, Devon Cross of New York City and Rachel Gaffney of Portland, Ore.; a son, Frank J. Gaffney Jr., director of the Center for Security Policy, Washington, D.C.; and four grandchildren.
A funeral service for Mr. Gaffney was held Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001, at St. Mathias Church, Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County.
