Joseph L. Fraites

Joseph Lionel Fraites, formerly of Watchung, New Jersey and North Palm Beach, Florida, died in his home in Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey on March 29, 2007, surrounded by his beloved family. He was 87 years old.
Mr. Fraites was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest child of Joseph L. and Florence Healing Fraites. He graduated from (then) Manual Training High School, Brooklyn, New York. At the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the armed services and served for the duration in the Army Air Corps as a flight mechanic stationed in the Midlands, England. Upon discharge he began his career as a clerk in a sugar trading company in lower Manhattan. During this time Mr. Fraites attended and graduated from St. John's University with a degree in finance.
Mr. Fraites would spend his entire career in the sugar trading industry, rising meteorically from his first clerkship to President, and then CEO, and finally owner of the company, Czarnikow - Rionda, Inc. with offices in New York, London and Hong Kong.
Mr. Fraites was for many years a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange; he served two terms as Chairman of that group. In retirement he continued to serve the Board as a consultant.
Mr. Fraites was a philanthropist. In 1984 he established the Evelyn Svarrer Fraites Foundation in honor of his first wife. The mission of this charitable trust was to provide scholarships for students of Cranford (New Jersey) High School who excelled in areas that reflected his late wife's vocation and interests; primarily in literature and the other liberal arts. These awards were granted based on merit and need. The scholarship ran for twenty years and today there are 85 Fraites Scholars prominent across many academic fields. Mr. Fraites' additional philanthropies included the New York Public Library and the New York Philharmonic, among others.
At the time of his death, Mr. Fraites was a member of the Spring Lake Golf Club and the Echo Lake Country Club (Westfield, NJ); he was also a long - time member of India House, Hanover Square, New York City.
Mr. Fraites was predeceased by his wife, Evelyn S. Fraites in 1981 and by his daughter, Ellen Fraites Wagner in 1995. He is survived by his wife of 23 years, the former Ellen Maloney Curcio, and by his children, Joseph L. Fraites of Weston, Connecticut, Christopher G. Fraites of Westfield, NJ and Lisa Dworkin of Far Hills, NJ. He is also survived by his nine grandchildren: Tatum Fraites, Kristina Fraites, Robert Curcio, Charles Fraites, Graham Dworkin, Amanda Curcio, Adam Fraites, Ellie Dworkin and Lauren Fraites. Other survivors include his brother Richard Fraites of Bourne, Mass., his sisters Nathalie Scott of Chatham, Mass. and Patricia Ferretti of Bradenton, Fla. and his stepchildren, Ann C. Gregory of Louisville, Tenn., Paul A. Curcio III of Asbury Park, NJ and Joseph A. Curcio of Chatham, NJ.
There will be a memorial service at The First Presbyterian Church in Cranford on the corner of Springfield and North Union Avenues. Funeral arrangements are by the Gray memorial Funeral Home in Cranford. There will be no viewing and the burial will be private.
Contributions in memory of Mr. Fraites may be made to the Joseph Lionel Fraites Foundation, a new trust to be established by his widow. The mission of this charitable will be to benefit underprivaleged youth in the City of Brooklyn with enhanced recreational and cultural activites. Donations may be sent to Joseph L. Fraites 41 Hemlock Ridge Weston, Connecticut, 06883 as Interim Trustee.