Frank Ventresca, broadcast pioneer

FRANCESCO Fernando Ventresca came to the United States from Italy in pursuit of the "American Dream" - and he found it.

He landed in Bucks County and co-founded a family construction company, became a foreign-language broadcaster on radio and TV, and owner of radio stations and real estate and mortgage firms.

"His story echoes many of the people who arrive in America to realize their dreams," said his son, Eduardo, also a broadcaster under the name Ted Kelly. "He was a sweet, creative man."

His father, known as Frank, died March 18. He was 71 and lived in Warrington.

He was born in Torre Dei Nolfi, Italy, the son of Ettore and Erminia Ventresca. He grew up and was educated in Italy. He attended college in Rome and was a skilled regional soccer player there.

In the early '50s, he came to this country with his parents and two brothers, John and Anthony, and settled in Bucks County.

He served in the Army in Europe, where he mastered four languages.

Frank joined with his father and brothers to form Ettore Ventresca & Sons Inc., which grew to become one of the region's most recognized construction firms.

In the late '50s, he became a recognized voice in the Italian-American community through the "Frank Ventresca Italian-American Radio Hour." It aired through a number of regional radio stations, including WTEL, WHAT and WNWR in Philadelphia.

His radio broadcasts, spanning 40 years, led to the creation of what is thought to be America's first originally produced, nationally syndicated Italian-American TV program, the "Frank Ventresca Show."

It featured news from Italy via RAI TV, weekly Fifa Soccer coverage and live performances by Italian music stars, including Domenico Modugno and Romano Mussolini.

From 1970, more than 200 weekly programs were syndicated to New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., from the Philadelphia studios of Channel 29.

In the early '70s, he owned AM/FM radio stations in New Jersey.

Frank also was a partner in a real-estate firm in Cherry Hill in the mid-'60s through the mid-'70s, and in the past 20 years, ran an international mortgage company based in Warrington.

Ted Kelly, who broadcasts to Italy and around the world on WorldSpace and XM, said his father always wanted him to use his real name - Eduardo Giancarlo Fernando Ventresca, but Ted's radio-station general manager wouldn't hear of it.

Frank's family described him as "charismatic, warm-hearted, a kind soul, and very spiritual."

Besides Eduardo, he is survived by a daughter, Allegra, and his brothers, Anthony and John.

Services: Were Saturday. *