Fund Honors Composer of Elementary School's Song

The memory of Frank DeLorenzo, a 1964 graduate of Leonia High School, carries on through a fund established in his honor. DeLorenzo, who passed away in 2017, grew up in Leonia, New Jersey and had a passion for the arts. The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's The Frank DeLorenzo Memorial Fund honors a senior from Leonia High School, demonstrating talent in the arts, with an annual scholarship.

"The Northern New Jersey Community Foundationis honored to establish a fund in remembrance of Frank DeLorenzo to benefit other graduates in the arts from his alma mater, Leonia High School. Supporting the arts and artists is an integral part of our ArtsBergen initiative, a regional arts alliance promoting collaborative activities between artists and arts organizations, nonprofits, businesses, developers and municipal leaders in communities where they live and work," said Michael Shannon, President, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.

DeLorenzo pursued his interest in the arts and was active in the community. His playful illustrations enlivened the Leonia High School yearbook and The Leonian. While a fifth-grader at Anna C Scott Elementary School, he wrote a composition that became the school’s official song, which is still sung at the school, over sixty years later. He attended Parsons School of Design and Paterson State College, later renamed William Paterson University of New Jersey. In New Jersey, he was involved with the Leonia Players’ Guild, continuing his interest with the community theatre on St. Simons Island, Georgia. During the 1970s, he was Scoutmaster of Troop 61 in Leonia and the leader of a Folk Mass at St. John the Evangelist Parish.

Scholarship Award

Through the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's The Frank DeLorenzo Memorial Fund, a scholarship will be awarded annually to a student graduating from Leonia High School, who shows artistic excellence to pursue a postsecondary degree. "The Frank DeLorenzo Memorial Scholarship Fund celebrates the life of the most creative member of Leonia High School’s Class of 1964. His wide-ranging artistic talents, coupled with an inimitable, buoyantly mischievous sense of humor, made him an inspiration to all who knew him. It is Frankie’s spirit, his love of life, as well as his aesthetic abilities, that we are honoring with this award, to be given on an annual basis to the Leonia High School senior who best demonstrates talent and ambition as an artist, musician, or writer," said Paul Coopersmith, a classmate of DeLorenzo and the Fund's creator and advisor.

Remember Frank DeLorenzo

The public can continue Frank DeLorenzo's legacy with a donation in his memory. Donations are tax-deductible, as permitted by law, and may be made online . Contributions may also be sent by check made out to 'The Northern N.J. Community Foundation' with 'The Frank DeLorenzo Memorial Fund' entered in the memo line. Send checks to the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, 1 University Plaza, Suite 128, Hackensack, New Jersey 07601.

For further information about the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, contact nnjcf@nnjcf.org or call 201-568-5608.