As youngsters in McKeesport, the Rendulic sisters, Joan and Janet, could be found in their father's meat packing plant, preparing boxes of wieners to be sent to Kennywood Park.
In 1941, their father, Frank Rendulic, the son of Croatian immigrants, established the Rendulic Meat Packing Co. of Port Vue in a shed behind his home -- a business that would eventually employ more than 100 people and supply meat products to almost every major supermarket in Western Pennsylvania.
Frank D. Rendulic, of McKeesport , died of complications related to heart problems on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001, in UPMC McKeesport. He was 85.
His daughter, Janet Bernardine, recalled the truckloads of meat that would leave their Manning Street plant every day. "My father sold the Pancake Kitchens all of their sausage and Kennywood Park, all of its wieners," she said. "He supplied meat to all the major supermarkets, including Kroger, A&P, Giant Eagle and Foodland."
Born in Pitcairn, Frank Rendulic was one of three children of the family of Daniel and Rose Narelic Rendulic, who had emigrated from Croatia at the turn of the 19th century.
Daniel Rendulic supported his young family by selling real estate and operating a restaurant in the Mckeesport area. During the dark days of the Great Depression, his son Frank, following graduation from McKeesport High School, helped support the family by selling cleaning rags to businesses in the Mon Valley.
In 1941, Frank Rendulic bought and butchered a calf in a shed behind his McKeesport home. It was a modest beginning of the Rendulic Meat Packing Co., which eventually had customers in New York City, Ohio and Virginia.
"My father-in-law specialized in Kosher lamb," recalled his daughter-in-law, Jeanne Rendulic, who, for a time, was the firm's bookkeeper. 'We would send two truckloads of Kosher lamb to Brooklyn and Manhattan every week."
In 1942, Frank Rendulic married his childhood sweetheart, Josephine Frankovic, who also was a child of Croatian parents. Although Josephine Rendulic busied herself raising her four children, she could be found manning the customer counter at the plant.
Businessman Daniel Bekavac remembered Mr. Rendulic as being not only a successful self-made man, but as a staunch Croatian. "Frank loved everything that was Croatian,' said Bedkavac. "If he was your friend, he'd do anything for you. All you had to do was ask."
Mr. Rendulic was a member of CFU (Croatian Fraternal Union) No. 136 of Versailles and Club Dobrotvor, a Croatian social club. He could also be found cooking lambs at Croatian functions and picnics.
"My parents were devoted to their families and to their Croatian heritage and Christian faith," recalled Janet Bernardine. "We attended Sacred Heart Church, which at that time was a Croatian parish."
Mr. Rendulic is survived by his daughters, Joan F. Vadas of Jupiter and Janet M. Bernadine of Port Vue; sons, Frank D. Rendulic Jr. of White Oak and Frederick A. Rendulic of Port Vue; 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, who died in 1977.
Friends will be received from 12 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today in the Daniel F. Bekavac Funeral Home, 4504 Walnut St., Versailles.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Monday in Sacred Heart Worship Site, McKeesport. Interment in Sacred Heart Cemetery, McKeesport.
