Published Monday, April 26, 1999, in the San Jose Mercury News

Mike Fratto, talented both on stage and ice

He received excellence award at Bellarmine

Mercury News Staff Report

When Mike Fratto, a Bellarmine College Preparatory grad who was the goalkeeper of the University of Southern California hockey team, lunged for a puck and felt a pop in his leg in fall 1997, nobody could have guessed its portent.

That was the moment that the pain began, pain diagnosed much later as caused by non- Hodgkin's lymphoma, for which Mr. Fratto underwent a transplant of marrow from his sister Lisa Feb. 10.

Mr. Fratto died Thursday in the marrow transplant unit at Stanford University Hospital of the lymphoma and of complications from an unusual grade of infection that developed following the transplant. He was 20.

``He had so much courage, right down to the last breath,'' said Mr. Fratto's father, Frank. ``He didn't want to leave this world, but the ravages of the infection and the lymphoma overcame him.''

As a youth, Mike Fratto played goalie for the San Jose Blades, the Ice Center of San Jose's first ice hockey team, which won the Northern California championship. He also was goalie on a San Jose youth roller hockey team that placed third in the nation in 1995.

In Bellarmine's theater arts program, he was ``an actor of considerable range and blessed with one of the most beautiful singing voices in the history of our program,'' said Tom Allessandri, theater arts director and assistant principal.

Mr. Fratto had leading roles in several theater productions, including one as a singing narrator. ``He was equally adept in comedy and drama, musical and non-musical,'' Allessandri said.

He received Bellarmine's General Excellence Award, which goes to the most well-rounded student in the senior class.

Mr. Fratto enrolled at USC as a presidential scholar, a distinction that carried a partial scholarship. He was one of 30 students selected for the business scholars program, an advanced course that uses case studies.

Mr. Fratto ran one season of cross-country at Bellarmine, but hockey was his game. At USC, his jersey number, 30, was retired after he left the team at the end of the 1997-98 season.

``He was about as good as they come,'' said his USC roommate, Jeremy Cesena. He is dedicating his project in the university's famed film school to his former roommate.

Michael J. Fratto

Born: July 18, 1978, San Jose, Calif.

Died: April 22, 1999, Stanford, Calif.

Survived by: Parents, Maryann and Frank Fratto, and sister, Lisa, all of San Jose; grandparents, Connie and Frank Fratto and Rosemarie Donato, all of Chicago, and Frank Donato of Los Gatos.

Services: Funeral service at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday at Lima Family Santa Clara Mortuary, 466 N. Winchester Blvd. Mass at 9:30 a.m. at Queen of Apostles Church, 4911 Moorpark Ave., San Jose.

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Ice hockey player, business major dies at 20 of cancer
San Jose native Mike Fratto buried in team jersey; remembered for his courage, optimism
By KIMBERLY TABA
Staff Writer

Mike Fratto, a former USC student and star ice hockey player, died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma Thursday at Stanford University Hospital. He was 20.
Fratto, a junior majoring in business from San Jose, planned to return to USC for the spring semester after he was diagnosed with cancer in early July of last year.
His leg pains had previously been thought to be from ice hockey injuries, but X-rays revealed tumors. Throughout the following months, friends said that Fratto remained optimistic.
"He fought so hard," said Andy Farotte, a high school friend and an undeclared junior. "I've never seen this kind of courage and dedication to beating anything in my whole life."
An avid ice hockey player, Fratto was familiar with fighting to win. He played for various hockey teams while at Bellarmine College Preparatory School in San Jose as well as for the USC ice hockey team. He was the No. 1 goalie on the USC junior varsity team, and he would have certainly earned a letter had he continued to play varsity, said Head Coach Mark Wilbur.
"Mikey was one of those kids that I never had to worry about," Wilbur said. "He never missed a practice, never complained about not starting. He was Mr. Automatic."
The USC ice hockey team has assembled a 4-foot high basket of goodies for Fratto, containing CDs, videos and a jersey signed by every professional ice hockey team in California. He is being buried in his USC travel jersey, and the team retired his number, No. 30.
"We lost a family member last week," Wilbur said. "You never realize how important friendship, teamwork and teammates are to a guy until his father tells you that he is being buried in his team jersey."
Born July 18, 1978, Fratto was also a cigar aficionado who delighted in smuggling a vast assortment of cigars back from a summer trip to Europe.
"He was really excited about that trip," Farrotte said. "He talked about it for a long time."
Fratto had plans to return to Europe when his cancer was in remission and to drive around exploring the country before returning to school. However, a virus caught after his recent bone marrow transplant cut his plans short. His sister, Lisa, gave him the transplant Feb 10.
Despite doctors' expectations, Fratto fought hard to be healthy enough for a bone marrow transplant, and was even released early from the hospital.
"Even throughout the whole thing, he put on a good show whenever we saw him," Farotte said. "He was always in good spirits."
The friendly singer, actor, joker, optimist, athlete and former member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity will be missed by all who knew him, friends said.
"Mike was a warm, hearty person who could light up a room wherever he was," said Philip Guidry, a fraternity member and junior majoring in print journalism. "It came out even more once he got sick. Even though he was facing this adversity, he didn't want to bring others down."
Fratto's personality lent itself to making others feel comfortable and happy, no matter what the situation, Guidry said.
"If people were telling jokes, he'd tell the funniest one," he said. "In a sort of stuffy social situation, he'd be the one to let loose. His favorite movie was "Rocky," and he loved doing impersonations."
Fratto's loyalty to his fraternity was constant even after he left school, Guidry said.
"He became sort of like a symbol," Guidry said. "Once he got sick, he still kept on making trips down here to inspire everyone."
A Presidential and Business scholar, Fratto is survived by his parents, Maryann and Frank Fratto, sister Lisa, grandparents Connie and Frank Fratto and Frank and Rosemarie Donato.
Services were held Tuesday in San Jose.
"It doesn't make sense that someone as terrific as Mike had to go through something like this," Farrotte said. "The only way I see it is as a lesson to the rest of us to appreciate life like he did. That's his final gift to us."