Editor's Note: This obituary was prepared by the family, provided by Yardley and Pino Funeral Home and edited by Patch.
Francis Neil Pintauro, of North Haven and Williston Park, died at his home on Sunday. He was 61.
Known as "Frank," Pintauro was born to Anthony and Dorothy Pintauro on June 9, 1951. He graduated from Brooklyn Prep High School in 1969 and Manhattan College in 1973.
Pintauro started working at NBC when he was in college. He was the youngest vice president in NBC history at the age of 27. He also worked at ABC and Hal Riney before joining Showtime in 1989. At Showtime he rose to the rank of executive vice president and chief creative officer of Red Group. He was instrumental in developing the network's award-winning branding campaigns, and was responsible for overseeing creative for on-air, editorial production, marketing promotion and graphics, animation, digital content and print. In 2011 Red Group was named Best In-House Agency of the year by PromaxBDA.
Pintauro’s passion was fishing. He started fishing as a kid in Sag Harbor and catching striped bass soon became his favorite sport. He was also a collector of antique fishing lures, and he was one of the founders of the Salt Water Lure Collectors Club. His expertise as both a fisherman and collector were well known and well respected.
Pintauro is survived by his wife of 32 years, Kathy; his two sons, Anthony and David; his mother, Dorothy; his sister, Barbara (Stephen) Lobosco; brothers Ritchard (Lynnette) and Robert (Laura) Pintauro; sister-in-law Beth (Bob) Kelisek and brother-in-law John Minkowsky. He also leaves behind 14 nieces and nephews: Danielle, Samanthe, Stephen, Daniel, Melissa, Megan, Jaclyn, Michael, Jill, Bob, Michael, Jack, Elizabeth and Benjamin.
The family will receive friends and relatives at Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor on Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. A funeral mass will be held at St. Andrews Roman Catholic Church on Friday at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow at St. Andrews Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in Pintauro’s name to benefit research in gallbladder cancer under the direction of Dr. Diane Reidy, MSKCC. Gift by check made out to MSKCC and mailed to MSKCC, Attn: Jill Zatorski, 633 Third Avenue, 12th Floor South, New York, NY 10017.
