- Date Of Birth: December 29, 1929
- Date Of Death: May 2, 2023
- State: North Carolina
Frances D.
Born December 29th, 1929, just as the Great Depression hit the United States, Frances was born to two Italian American parents, Mary DeMatteo, and Anthony DeMatteo, in Palo Alto, Pennsylvania.
Frances attended the Palo Alto school and Pottsville High School, where she met her future husband, John. She began working at the Union Bank and Trust Company of Pottsville, PA, at the age of 18. She began what would become a legendary career that eventually led her to become the first female banking President and C.E.O. in Pennsylvania’s history and Chairman of the Board, where she helped countless people, including immigrants, to achieve the American Dream. Frances’ spirit exhibited fiery determination in the face of inequality and adversity and an unrequited will to help others in her home community.
Frances served on the board of Schuylkill United Way, St. Joseph Center for Special Learning, Penn State, The Children’s Home, Good Samaritan Hospital, Pottsville Hospital, Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce, Benevolent Association of Pottsville, Catholic Housing Corporation, Schuylkill Industrial Development Corporation, and the Pottsville Area Development Corporation. She was also involved in Covenant House, Nativity B.V.M. Catholic High School, and Catholic Missionary efforts.
She received several professional awards from organizations including Penn’s Woods Girl Scouts of America Council’s Distinguished Women Award and The B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation’s Anti-Defamation League’s Torch of Liberty Award. She was inducted into the Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers Hall of Fame and Who’s Who Amongst America’s Bankers.
Aside from her dedication to banking and finance, Frances’s legacy includes genuine devotion to her family and to God. A devout Roman Catholic, the DeMatteo and Weiss families were instrumental in the St. Anthony’s Day tradition at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Pottsville. Together they made hundreds of loaves of bread annually to celebrate the Feast of St. Anthony.
She is preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband of fifty-two years, John, her brother, Anthony, and many other family members. She is survived by her two children, her dedicated daughter and caregiver Mary Jo and her son Dennis (Reta), her grandchildren John (Summer), Catherine Chapman (Henry), April Eyler (Jamie), Michael (Jessica), and Joseph and her great-grandchildren Lyla and John Jaxon, Vivian and Hank Chapman, Dennis Eyler, and Mari Abigail and Finnian Michael.
Frances will be revered as a legend that broke barriers in the banking world and her servant heart; however, those closest to her remember her as a loving, supportive, and empowering mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, cousin, friend, and child of God.
