Mike Latona/Catholic Courier | 12.21.2020
Father Frank Falletta, who served as pastor of Greece’s St. Lawrence Parish for 30 of his 54 years as a diocesan priest, died Dec. 20, 2020, after a long illness. He was 80 years old.
Father Falletta grew up in Rochester’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish and attended St. Andrew’s and St. Bernard’s seminaries. He was ordained June 4, 1966, by Bishop James E. Kearney at Sacred Heart Cathedral. He served as assisting priest at St. Anthony, Elmira (1966-72); St. Theodore, Gates (1972-81); St. John of Rochester, Fairport (1981-83); and St. Michael, Newark (1983-84).
In 1984, he began his lengthy tenure at St. Lawrence, launching the only pastorate of his priesthood. Over the next three decades, under Father Falletta’s guidance, St. Lawrence would grow into one of the largest parishes in the Diocese of Rochester, expanding from 1,600 to 3,500 families over a 25-year period. In his second year as pastor, Father Falletta la