Susan K. Wells Fratarcangeli

Susan K. Wells Fratarcangeli

Susan K. Wells Fratarcangeli, age 71, of Erie, died Monday, May 26, 2014 at Saint Vincent Health Center after an extended illness. Susan attended St. Mary's and then St. Joseph's Elementary Schools, graduated from St. Benedict Academy and shortly thereafter started her career with Professional Communications.

Where to start with a woman so special and so loved by so many? I guess we must begin at the beginning... Susan was born in Erie, PA on April 13, 1943, a daughter of the late William and Ruth Wells. Susan and her siblings, including late sister Linda Wells Stutz and baby brother William Wells (of Cooper City, FL), could be caught hanging out at their dad's local business, playing around their Victorian home in one of Erie's "old neighborhoods" in its glory days and spending summers at their Kelso Beach cottage.

She attended St. Mary's and then St. Joseph's Elementary Schools, graduated from St. Benedict Academy and shortly thereafter started her career with Professional Communications. Through her long-lasting position in that industry, she knew almost everyone in Erie...or at least the family felt that way when greetings would come from a familiar face everywhere they went.
Susan married Clino Fratarcangeli on May 27, 1967. They had three beautiful children starting with Julie Fratarcangeli Ninkovic, Stephen Fratarcangeli and John Fratarcangeli who have all wed respectively to Srdan Ninkovic, Laurie Morton Fratarcangeli and Keri Deardorff Fratatcangeli.

She was an amazing mother (and mother-in-law). From the outside, some may have even called her overprotective or oversupportive, but from the inside she made her family feel like they were the only ones existing in this world and that their every dream will come true and goal will be reached and that the sun rises everyday just for them. As a "Mimi" to two wonderful grandchildren (and one on the way), she was a true playmate, a slumber party buddy and a spoiler with gifts for every visit. She was the center of her family and ensured that every single gathering was "over the top."

Today, a family's star has gone dim and their greatest fan is quiet and for that they grieve greatly. But they are assured that she is now in Heaven with her Lord and Savior Jesus and certainly throwing some type of event (probably forming a new card club and making new neighbors), catching up with those who have gone before her and definitely telling everyone about her kids and grandkids. She had the biggest heart of all and that love will go on. So even as this family and her many friends grieve their loss, they celebrate her eternity in victory and know they shall be reunited again.

The Bible assures all of us in Romans 10:9-10, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved." (NLT)

If you are not assured today of your salvation, know that God loves you...no matter who you are, no matter what your past. God loves you so much that He gave His one and only begotten Son for you and "...whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Jesus laid down his life and rose again so we could spend eternity with Him in Heaven and experience His absolute best here on earth. Salvation is a gift you can receive with a simple prayer from your heart confessed with your mouth...

Heavenly Father, I come to You admitting that I am a sinner. Right now, I choose to turn away from sin, and I ask You to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. I believe that Your Son, Jesus, died on the cross to take away my sins. I also believe that He rose again from the dead so that I might be forgiven of my sins and made righteous through faith in Him. I call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of my life. Jesus, I choose to follow You and ask that You fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit. I declare that right now I am a child of God. I am free from sin and full of the righteousness of God. I am saved in Jesus' name. Amen.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by one sister, Lynda L. Stutz; two sisters-in-law, Mary Lestorti and Delores DeLuca and two brothers-in-law, Alfonso and Victor Fratarcangeli.

Friends are invited to call at the John R. Orlando Funeral Home, Inc., 2122 Raspberry Street, on Thursday from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. and may attend a Funeral Mass on Friday at Blessed Sacrament RC Church, 1626 West 26th Street, at 11 a.m. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery.