Frank J. Lupo

Mr. Frank Joseph Lupo, age 93, formerly of Wyandotte, Michigan, was born February 28, 1928 and passed away peacefully on January 5, 2023. He was predeceased by his father; Savatore M. Lupo, his mother; Vicenzina “Virginia” Lupo, and his two brothers; Michael S. Lupo and James P. Lupo. Frank Lupo and his brothers were first generation Sicilian-Americans as his parents were both born in Cinisi, Sicily, before getting married and emigrating to the United States in 1919 and settling in Wyandotte.

Frank Lupo was the youngest of the siblings and was born with an insatiable desire to learn. After graduating Valedictorian from Roosevelt High School in 1946, he went to the Detroit Institute of Technology while working the afternoon shift at Great Lakes Steel. After receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry in 1951, he enlisted into the U.S. Army where he served in the Medical Corps for 2 years stationed stateside during the Korean War. He was honorably discharged from the Army on Saturday, July 25, 1953.

In 1961, after receiving a Teaching Certificate, he began teaching at Oakley W. Best Junior High School in Dearborn Heights and then at the high school level when a new Junior High School was built and O.W. Best was converted to Annapolis High School. He obtained his Masters of Education from Wayne State University. He taught high school chemistry and physics for 30 years to countless students before retiring in 1991. As a Teacher, he felt no greater responsibility than to stimulate in each student a desire to learn and to prepare them as best he could for college and their chosen careers. Many of his students may remember the carved wooden sign above the doorway to his classroom which read, “Per Me Siva Nella Citta Dolente,” a quote from Dante’s Divine Comedy, which translates to “Through me One enters the City of Pain.” Many of his students believe that he took that quotation to heart! As a Teacher, Mr. Lupo was one in a million and unforgettable. Frank Lupo always believed that “Education is a Life-Long Pursuit.” He leaves behind an untold number of grateful students who succeeded in their various pursuits because of his dedication to teaching.

One of Henry David Thoreau’s most frequently quoted sayings is “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Mr. Frank Lupo is not one of those men. As a long-time member of the once flourishing Nomad Travel Club, which was based at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, he traveled to the far corners of the world. He traveled to Kathmandu in the Himalayans, rode camels in front of the Great Pyramids of Egypt, visited Rome, toured the Vatican and looked upon the artworks and sculptures of the Masters. He visited his homeland of Sicily and traveled down both the Amazon and Rio Grande. He toured China, Australia and New Zealand and climbed the ruins of ancient Mexico. He studied and could recount the history of all of these phenomenal places.

Mr. Frank J. Lupo has lived a full life and he will be greatly missed by countless students and those of us who shared the privilege of knowing him as a friend. Rest in Peace my friend!!!