Frank J. Daddona Jr., tavern owner

Frank J. Daddona Jr., 65, of Springfield, Delaware County, a tavern owner who supported youth sports teams and good causes, died of heart failure Tuesday at home.

For the last 31 years Mr. Daddona had operated the Bungalow Inn in Clifton Heights. The bar sponsored Clifton Heights Boys Club and Westbrook Park Athletic Association football and baseball teams. He played for boys club teams as a youth and wanted to give back, said his friend John Castle.

The Bungalow Inn hosted numerous benefits for individuals in need, Castle said, and sponsored fund-raising events for Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield. In the last 15 years, Mr. Daddona raised more than $100,000 for Clifton Heights Lions Club college scholarships to benefit local high school students. He was a founder and sponsor of the Delmont Touch Football League, where he also played for 20 years.

"Frank believed in keeping old friends together," said Castle, who met Mr. Daddona when they were both third graders at Holy Cross School in Springfield. He organized trips to the Palestra for Big Five basketball games; to Penn State-Temple football games - he was a Nittany Lions fan; and to Phillies games.

Mr. Daddona was in the stands when the Phillies won the World Series in 1980 and attended last week's rainout game with his wife, Jacklyn Duke Daddona. He told a reporter that this year's Series felt even more special.

"People need to feel good," he said. "With the economy and everything, everyone's having a hard time these days. You know what? We need this, for our psyche. This is great."

Mr. Daddona said that his three daughters were cheering for the Phillies and that even the German exchange student living with the family had gotten into the spirit.

"She never saw a baseball game in her life before she came to us, and now she's a huge fan," he said.

Mr. Daddona graduated from Upper Darby High School. He served in the Army Reserve from 1964 to 1970. For several years he was an insurance salesman before becoming a bartender and tavern manager. He was past president of the Delaware County License Beverage Association.

"People were always giving Frank socks as gifts because he never wore them, even to his wedding," Castle said. "It was his trademark."

Mr. Daddona and his wife married in 1986. They met when she was waitressing and he was bartending at the Bungalow Inn, then owned by her father, Jack Duke, and uncle, Harry Duke.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Daddona is survived by daughters Rachel, Rosemary and Jackie, and a sister.

A Funeral Mass will be said at noon tomorrow at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, 136 Saxer Ave., Springfield. Friends may call from 9 a.m.