FRANK C. KERESTESI

FRANK KERESTESI Frank C. Kerestesi, 89, passed away Feb. 16, 2009, on his 63rd wedding anniversary. Frank was born in South Bend, Ind., Jan. 22, 1920, to Frank and Frances Kerestesi. He attended South Bend Central High School and was a graduate of the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana. After graduating from college, he joined the U.S. Navy and was sent to Mid-Shipman's school at Columbia University in New York. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and sent to the Pacific Theater of operations (New Hebrides and Solomon Islands) as a gunnery officer.

While still in the Navy, he met Joy M. Maxfield, and they were married Feb. 16, 1946. They were married for 55 years. Joy preceded him in death in 2001. His grandson, Ryan McKinley, also preceded him in death in 1984.

Frank joined the Pacific Fire Rating Bureau (the predecessor of the Insurance Services Office - ISO) in San Francisco in 1946. He left the Bureau to take a position as special agent with the Great American Insurance Company in Los Angeles. His territory included Beverly Hills and Las Vegas. He began traveling one week a month to Las Vegas in 1949, and one of his appointed agencies was Cragin & Pike. In 1956, Ernie Cragin gave him the opportunity to become a partner in the firm. Frank liked the people of Las Vegas and recognized the opportunity that Southern Nevada presented. He accepted Ernie's offer, and he and Joy moved their young family to Las Vegas in September 1956. Frank's insurance career spanned 43 years, 33 in Nevada. He was very involved in the insurance industry as a whole, serving as the president of the Nevada Independent Insurance Agents and as the state national director of the Nevada Independent Insurance Agents to the Independent Insurance Agents of America. He also was a board member of the Nevada Insurance Guaranty Association, and a founding board member of the Nevada Insurance Education Foundation. Most of all, he was proud of Cragin & Pike, and the 100th anniversary of the firm this year, 2009.

Frank is survived by his son, Tom (Buffie); daughter, Linda McKinley (Mark); grandchildren, Scott Kerestesi (Katie), Anne Kerestesi, Melissa Cook (Matthew) and Laura Johnson (Nathan); great-grandchildren, Benjamin and Carrigan Cook; and special friend, Wendy Watts.

A funeral Mass will be at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, at St. Viator Catholic Church, 2461 E. Flamingo Road. Interment will be at Cedar Grove Cemetery on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Viatorians (Clerics of St. Viator), 1212 E. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL 60004, or to Bishop Gorman High School, 5959 S. Hualapai Way, Las Vegas, NV 89148.

02/04/2023 EJS