Francis Joseph Lamont, Jr.

Francis “Frank” Joseph Lamont, Jr., 83, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Kennedyville, Maryland, died peacefully in Philadelphia at Penn Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, following an acute infection.

He is survived by his wife, Sheila VanAntwerp; his former wife, Mary; his step-mother Maureen; his sisters, Diane Brown (Neil) and Dorothea Lamont (Rick Burd); his daughters, Clare Lamont Powell (Kevin), Maude, and Sarah; his grandchildren, Mary Francis “Frankie,” Jessica “Jessie,” Callan, and Lauren; his great-grandson, Mason; his nieces and nephews, Lauren, Kevin, Sean, Kristy, Sasha, Nicholas, Grace, and Diana; and numerous great-nieces and great-nephews.

From Sheila's family, Frank is survived by his sisters-in-law, Gloria Hoffman and Beverly VanAntwerp;his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Jeffrey and Lori; nieces and nephews, Jonathan, Nikky, Lisa, Bradley, Savannah, Christopher, Madeline, Benjamin, Klayton, Keri, Jennifer and Lindsay; and numerous great-nieces and great-nephews.

Frank was born in Philadelphia to Claire “Betty” (née Cavanaugh) and Frank Lamont, Sr. He grew up in St. Barnabas Parish in Southwest Philadelphia alongside his sisters, Diane and Dorothea, surrounded by a close-knit extended family. Many of his relatives lived within a few blocks of one another, creating the kind of neighborhood and family life that remained an important part of his identity throughout his life.

Frank was a proud graduate of West Catholic Boys High School, Class of 1961. From his student years onward, theater and music were central to his life. Under the direction of Dr. Margaret Mary Kearney and Brother Richard Kestler, FSC, he was deeply involved in West Catholic’s renowned theater program. He performed in several major musical productions, including as Harold Hill in The Music Man, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, and Strongman McGowan in The Saga of Strongman McGowan, which took first honors at the LaSalle College’s Invitational One-Act Play Contest.

In addition to his time on stage, Frank was a deeply religious man, a proud Irish Catholic, who shared his musical gift in church as well. His time there was mostly spent in the choir loft. Blessed with a commanding and gorgeous baritone voice, Frank’s singing was absolutely spellbinding. When his voice soared from the balcony, it possessed a rich beauty that captivated the entire congregation, literally compelling people to turn around just to see the source of such a magnificent sound.

After high school, Frank entered the Christian Brothers and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Theology from La Salle University, where he met and formed a lifelong friendship with Professor James Fallon of the Philosophy Department.

During his years at La Salle, he continued performing, becoming a regular performer at the Rodden Summer Music Theater. He also served as an assistant rehearsal director for Dr. Alexander Peloquin’s 1963 North American Liturgical Week when he came to Philadelphia to conduct the first public performance of his groundbreaking Mass in English.

Frank’s connection to West Catholic theater remained strong long after his graduation. In April 2011, he returned to the West Catholic stage to co-direct Broadway West with Edward Carey ('52) and Frank Livoy ('64). The production brought together eighteen former student performers from the 1950s and 1960s for an alumni revue featuring more than 30 songs celebrating the musical productions that helped define the West Catholic theater tradition.

Frank’s love of theater also extended into his professional work. During his years at St. Francis Vocational School and St. Gabriel Hall, he and his friend, Tommy Joyce, produced and directed a traveling student theater program.

In 1970, Frank earned his Master of Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he studied humanistic psychology under Gerald Weinstein and Sidney Simon at the Graduate School of Education.

Frank’s professional life was deeply rooted in his belief in education, community, and the possibility of creating new institutions to serve young people by helping them find direction and purpose.

Along with his dear friend Richard “Rick” deLone, Frank wrote a proposal that received a Rockefeller Foundation grant to develop a pilot program for a decentralized secondary school. The project was part of Superintendent Mark Shedd’s effort to rethink traditional urban education and create smaller, more community-centered schools in the School District of Philadelphia.

In 1968, Frank became Program Administrator of the Mantua-Powelton Mini School, working with Principal Forrest Adams to open and operate the innovative school in West Philadelphia. (Forrest later became godfather to Frank’s first child, Clare Elizabeth, in 1969).The school was part of the broader “mini-school” movement sweeping the east coast and promoted by Superintendent Shedd. Frank helped build the program at a time when West Philadelphia was undergoing enormous social and institutional change.

Additional accomplishments:

• Founding member of The Bridge, a residential drug-treatment program
• Assisted Sister Madeleine Boyd with establishing Shalom, Inc., a non-profit that encourages respect, resiliency and recovery through prevention services for children, adolescents and families.Frank joined the board when Sister Madeleine retired and served in this capacity for years
• Founded and directed Rites of Passage, the School District of Philadelphia’s high school drug- and alcohol-prevention program
• Program Manager of Cooperative Labor/ Management Assistance for School Personnel (CLASP)
• Association of Catholic Teachers Union (ACT Local 1776), Recognition Strike Coordinator, for the founding and recognition of the union while also teaching English and French at Roman Catholic High School

During Frank’s years with the School District of Philadelphia, his community advocacy continued to be reflected in his work.

• Early in his career he worked for Coordinating Office of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Programs (CODAP) and remained their liaison once he left to work for the School District of Philadelphia
• From the 1980s to his retirement, he worked as a Program Manager in the Office of Nonpublic Schools, the department responsible for providing counseling, remediation in reading, writing and math, psychology, speech, hearing and vision services to tens of thousands of students in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia schools
• After retirement, he was recruited to mentor new teachers for the University of Delaware, which he did until COVID

Frank was also deeply involved in the life of his community. During his years in Powelton Village, he participated actively in neighborhood affairs and civic life serving for a period of time as the Democratic Party committeeman and as an officer of the Powell School Education Fund with colleagues Happy Fernandez and Janie Freeman.

Frank’s political work highlights the intersection between traditional local party politics and the radical, anti-establishment activism that defined Powelton Village in the late 1960s and 1970s.

While serving as a Democratic Party Committeeman in Philadelphia's 24th Ward, Frank did not operate like a standard establishment politician. Instead, he aligned himself with the unique, countercultural spirit of his constituents. With the strong moral and ethical values inculcated in him during his education with the Christian Brothers, he was a bridge between the “New Left” and formal politics in a time when city politics was heavily dominated by conservative, "law-and-order" Democrats like Police Commissioner (and later Mayor) Frank Rizzo. Frank represented a distinct faction of the party — grassroots, progressive, and deeply integrated with the anti-war and Black Power elements of West Philadelphia.

His most famous act of political theater occurred in June 1971, following the historic activist burglary of an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania. When federal agents heavily targeted and monitored the Powelton Village neighborhood looking for the burglars, the community responded with defiance. Frank famously participated in the Hamilton Street Block Party where residents openly auctioned off photocopies of the stolen, classified FBI documents. For ten dollars, he bought an FBI memo that directed agents to maximize paranoia among leftist groups, hanging it in his official committeeman office as a badge of honor and a statement against government overreach.

Frank’s office and political organizing frequently supported the alternative community networks of the area, including the local food co-ops, anti-war organizing committees, and community-controlled education models, including the Mantua-Powelton Mini-School. His work serves as a prime example of how neighborhood-level political figures in Powelton chose solidarity with radical community movements over compliance with the city's central political machine to best serve the needs of the community.

Music was a lifelong passion and gift. At a very young age his mother taught him how to win over an audience with his voice and a little choreography. As a child and young man, he received extensive musical training, studying under Father Angelo della Picca, former maestro di capella of the Sistine Chapel Boys’ Choir, while he sang with the St. Francis de Sales Boys and Mens Choirs. As an adult, Frank studied voice and opera under the esteemed voice teacher, Marianne Casiello (formerly with The Curtis Institute). Frank, Madam Casiello, and a small group of opera aficionados got together to found the Bel Canto Lyric Opera Company. Frank performed as a soloist and in the chorus, and assisted with programming, blocking, setting up risers - you name it, he did it. Frank also sang with:

• St. Francis de Sales choir - for decades
• The Music Group of Philadelphia - which is where he met Sheila

Frank brought an unusual combination of gifts to everything he did: a powerful love of music and theater, a deep commitment to education, an instinct for community-building, and an abiding interest in young people. Whether he was directing a musical, creating an experimental school, working with students, developing programs for young people struggling with addiction, or simply gathering family and friends around him, he had a talent for bringing people together.

He spent much of his adult life sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, maintaining several sailboats over the years with his best friends, “Cowboy” Bob Simon and Rick deLone. He enjoyed sharing his love of sailing with family and friends and teaching the art and craft to the next generation. When he finally retired from the School District of Philadelphia at 70, he and Sheila purchased a second home and eventually relocated full-time to their cottage on the water on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

He lived a life filled with music, education, friendship, family, sailing, faith, and service — and he leaves behind generations of people whose lives he touched.

Relatives and friends are invited to his visitation on Saturday, October 3, 2026 from 10:00 am until 11:15 am at St. Francis deSales Church; 47th and Springfield Avenue; Philadelphia, PA 19143. Frank's Funeral Mass will follow at 11:30 am. 

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Frank’s memory to Shalom, Inc; 1905 East Allegheny Avenue; Philadelphia, PA 19134; (215) 425-7727.