Frank J. Sciro, Jr., the son of a state senator and a popular Democratic Party activist for 50 years, died on August 12. He was 76.
A criminal defense attorney, also served as counsel to the Passaic County Board of Social Services. He was also the municipal prosecutor in Woodland Park and the public defender in Haledon.
After law school, he clerked for Superior Court Judge Charles Joelson, a former Democratic congressman.
He began working on political campaigns in the 1970s, managing the re-election campaign of Passaic County Freeholder Edward G. O’Byrne. Later, he ran campaigns for former Assemblywoman Elease Evans (D-Paterson) and raised money for Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) and Passaic County Democratic Chairman John Currie.
His late father, Frank J. Sciro, was a fixture in Passaic County politics. Born in Italy, his mother had encouraged him to become a barber and he began working in a barber shop at age seven. He later appeared in vaudeville stand-up comic acts at the Majestic Theater in Paterson — he once outpolled another Paterson comedian, Lou Costello, as the best act of the night — and put himself through law school (his mother had eventually changed her mind) working as a barber.
Sciro’s father, known as Chee-Chee, was a Republican back when Paterson was a two-party city. He became secretary (a post now known as chief of staff) to Mayor William Furrey, and in 1942 he began a 30-year stint as Paterson City Clerk, a job that took him through eight mayors. One of them was Edward J. O’Byrne, father of the future freeholder.
While serving as city clerk, the elder Sciro was also the West Paterson (now Woodland Park) Municipal Court Judge. He was known to open court at 6 AM to accommodate local residents who did not want to lose a day’s pay.
In 1967, after Passaic County was allotted a third State Senate seat in reapportionment, Sciro, Sr. became a candidate for office on a slate with Clifton Councilman Ira Schoem (R-Clifton) and Wayne Mayor Edward Sisco (R-Wayne).
State Sen. Anthony J. Grossi (D-Paterson), the Passaic County Democratic boss, declined to seek re-election, and State Sen. Joseph Keegan (D-Passaic) ran with Freeholder Joseph Lazzara (the father of County Commissioner Sandi Lazzara) and former Paterson Municipal Court Judge and former city attorney Charles Alfano.
Republicans swept the three Senate seats, with Chee-Chee Sciro outdistancing the top Democratic vote-getter, Lazzara, by more than 7,000 votes. He did not seek re-election to a second term in 1971 — he also retired as city clerk that year — and Lazzara won a Senate seat in a Democratic sweep that also brought Passaic City Clerk Joseph Hirkala and Passaic County Freeholder DIrector William J. Bate of Clifton.
Sciro, Jr. is survived by his wife of 49 years, Tanis, his two daughters, and a grandson. His older sister, Teddy, who had served as a Senate aide to her father, also survives him.
A visitation will be held at the Vander Platt Funeral Home in Wyckoff from 2-4 PM and 7-9 PM on August 18, with a funeral service on August 19 at 9 AM at St. Elizabeth RC Church in Wyckoff.
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