The stained-glass workshop is within a house at the end of Champlain Walk that is unassuming, weathered like a piece of driftwood brought up by the ocean, just a stone’s throw away. Yet Louis Comfort Tiffany would be proud to see his tradition live on in Frank Pillitteri’s basement workshop in Ocean Bay Park.
I was given the grand tour. He showed me where he cut his glass and soldered the pieces together. I noticed his considerable supply in every color imaginable and some of the lamps and bases neighbors he had found for him to repurpose and bring back to life.
Yes, there was a treasure trove of Tiffany-style lamps, some copied from Tiffany patterns, while others were his designs. He also showed me palm-size boxes adorned with oyster shells.
“The color is dark when the lid is closed,” said Frank. “But look what happens when I open it!”
A kaleidoscope of colors burst forth!
A few moments later, his wife Noreen came downstairs. She mentioned to her husband that she had tracked down a hard-to-find type of glass in Germany. This was no
one-man show but a collaborating couple.
“I came out of the military, then went to school to become a hairstylist,” Frank explained. “I was working at a local shop in Queens, and this young lady came in and gave me a hard time. I got rid of her as fast as I could, but she kept returning. ‘My God,’ I thought, ‘What must I do?’ Then suddenly it came to me––marry her!”
The Pillitteris have been happily wed for almost 60 years.
Noreen’s family has owned their Ocean Bay Park house for generations. They showed me a photo on the wall of what it used to look like.
“We renovated the house in 2006,” Frank explained. “All this wood you see was removed from the old house, and we saved it. Noreen’s cousin Glen [Olsen] then reinstalled the wood in the house. Most of this wood is over 90 years old.”
Wood has a remarkable beauty that has survived so long. It seems to glow from within. Of course, their house is furnished with favorite lamps Frank had crafted over the years. There are also stained-glass windows in strategic locations, one in their sunroom facing west and another in the stairwell facing north.
So, how did this obsession with stained glass come about?
“I was the culprit,” Noreen proudly admitted.
As newlyweds, they had honeymooned in Europe and North Africa and toured many churches. During their travels, Noreen noticed how Frank admired the stained-glass windows of the many churches they visited. By 1970, Frank was working as a wire cutter and splicer for AT&T. Noreen was shopping at the local mall and bought and picked out a gift for her husband at the hobby store. It was a kit to assemble a stained-glass lamp. Another kit soon followed.
“Then, one day, I returned from work, and Noreen said she had enrolled me in classes at a stained-glass studio in Nyack,” Franks chimed.
The rest is history.
Examples of Noreen’s quilting and needlework also adorn their oceanfront home, and they both agree that their shared artistic interests are one of the bonds of their
marriage.
“She holds a patent!” Franks crowed proudly about his wife.
During her career, Noreen Pillitteri taught high school physics, worked as a chemist in a laboratory, and worked at a firm that produced engineering drawings. She changed harmful chemicals used in the reproduction process to more inert ones. The patent is in her name.
By the year 2017, both were fully retired. They gave up their Rockland County house to make Fire Island their year-round home. They care for their rescue dog and work together to create beautiful lamps and other objects. Sometimes, Frank gets a commission, or they participate in local craft shows together. They live their lives with quiet enjoyment, with a quest that keeps them forever young.
