Frances Reckhow

Frances Margaret Reckhow, 97, of Tottenville, a New Jersey native who had many talents and interests, died Sunday in Staten Island University Hospital, Prince's Bay.

She was born Frances Margaret Heckman in Newark, but early on spent summers in Tottenville, where her family operated a refreshment stand, By Heck, on the shoreline at the end of Manhattan Street.

Her first husband of four years, John E. Dooley, was killed in action during the battle of Okinawa in 1945, while stationed aboard the destroyer USS Newcomb.

She and Chester H. Reckhow wed in 1950 in Our Lady Help of Christians R.C. Church, Tottenville, and the couple settled in Tottenville.

Mrs. Reckhow worked at Steve's Orange House, a tavern in Prince's Bay, in the 1970s, and at Totten Cleaners, Tottenville, for a time in the 1980s.

She grew flowers and vegetables and canned and preserved the bounty for winter use. She enjoyed cooking German dishes. She sewed on a treadle-powered Singer sewing machine, and crocheted doilies and afghans.

Mrs. Reckhow relished swimming, summer picnics, and eating Maryland blue-claw crabs. She fondly recalled evenings spent at the former Casino Dance Hall on Rockaway Street in Totttenville when she was a young adult.

She was a very strong-willed woman, said her daughter, Carol E. Huben. But she had a heart of gold.

Mrs. Reckhow was a parishioner of Our Lady Help of Christians parish for 62 years.

Chester, her husband of 60 years, died in 2010.

Surviving, along with her daughter, Carol, are her daughter, Eileen M. Wallen; three grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be Wednesday from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, Tottenville, with a mass at 10 a.m. in Our Lady Help of Christians Church. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.

Services: Our Lady Help of Christian;s RC Church Wednesday, August 29,2012 10:00AM

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Tuesday, August 28,2012 2-4 & 7-9PM

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Seton Foundation for Learning 315 Arlene Street Staten Island, NY 10314, would be appreciated.

Cemetery: Resurrection Cemetery (Staten Island)

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: Our Lady Help of Christians R.C.Church