Memorial Mass to be held for Johnstown entertainer Frank Filia
Jun. 7—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Family and friends will bid farewell to Frank Filia with a simple and solemn Catholic funeral service on Friday.
Filia, a well-known local jazz musician, died on May 17 at age 86.
His Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. at St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Church, 124 Maple Ave., in Johnstown's Woodvale neighborhood.
Original plans were to hold a private service for the family.
But his nieces — Donamarie Wilfong and Maureen Barron — said so many people asked if there was going to be an event that they decided to hold the public Mass.
"We want to share him and the last song with him with the community," Wilfong said. "It's going to be a really simple, but a nice service that reflects my uncle."
Wilfong added: "My uncle was bigger-than-life to all of us, and we never thought he'd die. It's been very sad for us, but we know how much Johnstown, his friends, the community meant to him. We just felt that it would only be the right thing to have the opportunity for everyone to say goodbye to my uncle in a meaningful way."
Filia, a Johnstown native, spent years playing music in Las Vegas before returning home and performing shows across the city, including regularly at Holiday Inn Johnstown-Downtown.
And now, as Barron said, he is "up there singing away and dancing with the stars."
