He battled adversity to support what he loved
Longtime friend of Niagara’s music scene succumbs to pancreatic cancer
He loved poker. He loved the Cowboys. But more than anything, Frank Spadafore loved music.
The 25-year employee of Legends on the Niagara golf course was a familiar face at local concerts but had a serious devotion to the Light of Day shows — a series of fundraising concerts for Parkinson Canada inspired by the legendary Light of Day fundraisers in New Jersey, which frequently feature Spadafore’s musical hero, Bruce Springsteen.
Even after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018, Spadafore drove hundreds of kilometres to multiple cities to see concerts, often on his own.
Early last year, ParkinsonCanada president Dave Rotella of Niagara Falls pulled some strings to help Spadafore finally meet Springsteen after the annual Light of Day show at Asbury Park.
“He met everybody, so it was like, ‘Hey, Bruce, here’s somebody you’ve never met,’ ” said Rotella with a laugh.
Rotella said Spadafore always seemed “even keel” — never too up or down — so it was sometimes hard to gauge his reaction to something. But meeting Springsteen was a lifelong dream achieved.
“His girlfriend after told me, ‘Dave, you don’t know how excited he was when he got home.’ He was smiling from ear to ear and I know that made his weekend.”
Spadafore succumbed to his cancer Saturday, more than a year longer than his doctor originally gave him to live. He was 55.
Rotella said Spadafore was an avid supporter of the local Light of Day shows since the first one in 2007 and would become friends with many of the artists over the years, including Willie Nile, Joe Grushecky and Joe D’urso.
Many of them performed for a threehour online tribute concert to him called Friends for Frank, which Rotella organized in November.
“So many people with Light of Day loved him and when I threw the idea out, it was unbelievable,” Rotella said. “Everybody emailed me back, ‘I’m, I’m, I’m in.’ ”
Spadafore’s brother Lou said Frank was a music buff all his life and wouldn’t think twice about driving hundreds of kilometres on his own to see a concert.
“I mean, if no one else wanted to go, he’d hop in his car and drive to New York City. Or Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Kingston, Toronto, everywhere. That was his gig, that was his life.”
During his final year, it was especially hard for him not to attend live concerts because of the pandemic.
“COVID really put a dent in everything, especially for him,” said Lou. “Just not being able to go to hockey games, football games, concerts.”
Despite his illness, Rotella said, Spadafore insisted on helping other people with their hardships, always paying for tickets to fundraising concerts even when offered for free.
He said he was “inspired” by his way of handling adversity.
“You never saw him high or low, even during this disease. You’d say to him, ‘Frank, how you feeling?’ and he’d say, ‘I feel great.’ Then you’d talk to his brother and he’d say, ‘Oh Dave, he’s had a bad week.’
“He never said a word.”
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the family is planning a private celebration of his life.