Frank T. Ongaro Jr. | Company owner, 81

Frank Theodore Ongaro Jr., 81, of Center City, a designer of marine accessories, died of kidney failure Tuesday, June 28, at Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse.

From 1960 until retiring in 2008, Mr. Ongaro headed Ongaro Marine Ltd. in New Jersey, an east coast marine manufacturer's representative firm. Since 1996, he developed and patented stainless steel control arms and knobs for boats, and introduced a line of stainless steel electric horns and windshield wipers.

Mr. Ongaro had been supplying products to the marine industry since 1958, when he and his uncle, Ted Ongaro, established Ongaro Dynamic Industries to market a fuel flow meter and tachometer that Ted Ongaro designed for automobiles, boats, and aircraft.

Later, Mr. Ongaro headed the Ongaro Division of Teleflex Marine and produced a line of mechanical steering systems.

He enjoyed boating in Avalon, N.J., and refurbished a 1929 Chris-Craft cruising boat, a former wife, Sandra Ongaro, said.

Mr. Ongaro grew up in Columbus, Ohio. In his teens, he played the accordion on the radio as a winner of Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour and was hired to tour with Mack.

He attended Ohio State University before serving in the Coast Guard on the Great Lakes during the Korean War.

After his discharge, he and a brother, Edward, operated Ongaro Nurseries in Ohio. He moved to the Philadelphia area in 1960.

Mr. Ongaro is survived by daughters Stacey Cook, Kimberley Sullivan, and Terry; a brother, Thomas; a sister; two grandchildren; and former wife Sandra Ongaro. He is predeceased by a former wife, Jean Ongaro; a sister Esther and a brother Edward.

A service is private.

Donations may be made to Hospice Inpatient Care, Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse, 1800 Lombard St., Philadelphia 19146.