Final Salute

Francis J. “Frank” Driscoll, Sr., Captain USNR “Seabee,” a civil engineer, passed away at his home in Chesapeake, Virginia on May 16, 2022. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1941, to the late John Joseph Driscoll and Anna Rose Catoggio Driscoll. A proud graduate of Villanova University with a degree in Civil Engineering, 1964 (Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps). In 1966 he married Catherine Virginia Wood of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, whom he met at Villanova, and the Navy took them to Tidewater, Virginia. He proudly served in the United States Navy Civil Engineer Corps, including a tour in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War with the United States Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 58, “The Great 58”. After he transitioned to the private sector, he remained with the United States Naval Reserves. He was employed by McGaughy, Marshall & McMillan, later MMM Design Group, an award-winning architectural and engineering design firm with headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1986 he founded Life, Inc. a construction management company, performing project management and forensic engineering services, headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia. Mr. Driscoll was active in the Republican Party, serving in several capacities, most notably, the Chesapeake Republican Party Committee Chairman, where his leadership was recognized and awarded at the State and National levels for being among the best run local Republican political organizations in 1988. In 2004, Mr. Driscoll ran for Mayor of the City of Chesapeake, and although he came up short at the ballot box, even in defeat he was a winner, because his family was inspired and extremely proud of his courage and efforts. Mr. Driscoll served in different capacities and gave his time to countless benevolent causes, including, but not limited to, Board of Directors of Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, as Chairman of the Elizabeth River District Boy Scouts of America, Board of Directors of Food Bank and United Cerebral Palsy, Knights of Columbus, Virginia Society for Human Life, as a founding member of the Chesapeake Jubilee, The Ryan Club, Commonwealth of Virginia Veterans Services Foundation, and he was a member of Saint Matthews and Saint Gregory the Great Catholic Churches. One of the titles Mr. Driscoll was most proud of was “Grandpop,” he loved his three grandchildren, and it was of the highest priority on his calendar that he attend their religious, athletic, academic, and social events.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years Catherine Virginia Driscoll; his son Frank John Driscoll, Jr.; grandchildren Tiana L. Driscoll, Frank J. Driscoll, III and Tessa M. Driscoll, as well as other extended family members and dear friends.

Funeral services will be held at St. Matthews Catholic Church in Virginia Beach on Tuesday, May 24, at 11:00AM. The family will receive friends at H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts. Cedar Road, Monday evening from 5 to 7 P.M. Online condolences may be offered to the family at hdoliver.com and memorial donations may be made to Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater, 1100 Madison Plaza, Chesapeake, VA 23320.
Published by The Virginian-Pilot on May 22, 2022.