Frank P. Colosi ’75

Frank died Aug. 7, 2023, in Texas, where he was a well-known attorney and champion of civil rights who was said to have “spent his career trying to level the playing field.” A native of Niagara Falls, N.Y., and a graduate of Niagara Falls High School, he entered Princeton with the Class of 1976 but earned his A.B. from the Woodrow Wilson School with us. He went on to Cornell for his master’s degree in public administration and then completed his J.D. at Northwestern University in 1983.

Frank then moved to Texas, passed that state’s bar exam, and joined forces with attorneys Art Brender and Terry Casey in Fort Worth. The firm Brender, Casey, & Colosi were a three-lawyer team that argued a landmark employment discrimination case, Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust, before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1988. The decision, according to The New York Times, was “considered the most important civil rights ruling of [that] term.” Frank’s statistical ability was especially helpful in winning this case. The published obituary said that for most of his 40-year legal practice, he provided “his expert legal voice for those who otherwise would never have been heard.”

Frank was a lifelong Democrat and was active in the Democratic Party in Tarrant County, Tex., but his interest in government and politics dated back to his high school days in Niagara Falls. A former Niagara Falls city councilman said that “Frank saw public service as vital in a free society and public policy, shaped with the highest integrity. He always brought compassion and brilliance to the table.”

But beyond his commitment to his professional ideals, Frank’s colleagues and friends mention his loyalty and compassion, as well as his intelligence and wit. His firm’s Facebook page said, “The legal community lost a brilliant mind and loving soul. . . . His intelligence and empathy for his clients and every person he met made him one of the most unforgettable people you will ever meet.” Frank had maintained many close friendships over the years, both in Niagara Falls and in Fort Worth, and those friends have said he was always there, without question, to lend a helping hand.

Frank is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Lydia and Don Rappold; nieces and nephews; and many other relatives and friends. We join them in mourning their loss.