His Way_ The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra - Kitty Kelley [233]
These stories of his Cosa Nostra connections so infuriated Frank that he canceled his scheduled appearance at the convention luncheon for Mrs. Humphrey, where he was to be the master of ceremonies and sing for two thousand women delegates. He also canceled his appearance at a gala honoring Mayor Richard Daley.
Hypersensitive to press criticism, Frank worried about reflecting negatively on the Vice-President. “He’d say to me: ‘Should I do this? I don’t want to embarrass him,’ ” recalled Nick Kostopolous, one of Humphrey’s advance men.
After the convention, Frank continued to campaign hard for the Democratic ticket, saying, “I’ll do anything to defeat that bum Nixon.”
Frank did not have the same inside sources that he’d had in 1960, when Sam Giancana and Skinny D’Amato made such vital contributions to the election of John F. Kennedy. This time, too many disillusioned Democrats stayed away from the polls to protest the war in Vietnam. In one of the closest elections in American history, Humphrey lost the White House by fewer than 300,000 votes to Richard Nixon.
As a consolation prize, Frank sent Humphrey an expensive set of golf clubs, plus a set of Mark Cross luggage, and encouraged him to take advantage of his new-found leisure.
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The poor health of Frank’s father had worsened. On Sunday, January 19, 1969, Frank flew his parents to Houston’s Methodist Hospital so that Dr. Michael Ellis DeBakey could examine Marty for an enlarged aorta. DeBakey, a pioneer in artificial heart pump research, was celebrated as one of the finest heart surgeons in the world. Frank had been recommending him to friends for years—and paying their expenses at the Fondren-Brown Cardiovascular Center, where DeBakey operated. Now he was bringing his seventy-four-year-old critically ill father.
Frank and his mother spent most of the day and night by Marty’s bedside as DeBakey’s team of doctors ran tests to determine whether surgery was necessary. Two days later, Marty seemed to be resting comfortably. Assured by the hospital that he was “progressing nicely,” Frank left Houston for New York while Dolly stayed with her husband. The next day, January 24, Marty’s heart gave out and the former fire captain from Hoboken died of cardiac arrest at seven fifty-five P.M. Frank flew to Texas to take his father back to New Jersey for the last time.
Frank buried him with a requiem mass at Fort Lee’s Madonna Church, which was jammed with five hundred people, most of whom hadn’t even known the quiet little man but who had come only to see Frank Sinatra and his show business friends. The funeral procession included twenty-five limousines, ten carrying the two hundred fifty floral arrangements sent from Hollywood and Las Vegas.
“Dolly called me right after Marty died and said I had to be with her for the funeral,” said Sister Mary Consilia. “She insisted I walk down the aisle with her in my nun’s habit and stand in the line of mourners. The first pew in the church was Little Frank, Big Frank, Dolly, and me. She knew that they [the two Franks] wouldn’t be taking Holy Communion, so I took her to the rail and lifted up the black veil she was wearing so she could receive. Behind us were Big Nancy and Little Nancy, who had recently become engaged to Jack Haley, Jr., who had given her a big beautiful diamond ring made in the shape of a butterfly. He was there at the funeral, too, and so was Tina. …”
After the solemn high mass celebrated by three priests, the cortege proceeded to the Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City, followed by a horde of curiosity-seekers who yelled and waved and stamped their feet trying to get Frank’s attention. The two Franks guided Dolly to the gravesite, where she said good-bye to her husband of fifty-five years. Wailing with grief, she seemed on the verge of collapse; Frank summoned a police escort to take them back to Fort Lee.
“[Dolly] wanted me to do some errands for her,” Sister Consilia said, “but I didn’t have the convent car, so Frank said he’d give me one and, sure enough, two nights later