Frank Joseph Rice, father of Malibu Senior Planner Stacey Rice, died on Saturday. He was 61.
Rice was born and raised in Long Island, N.Y. and graduated from Hofstra University. He was a history teacher and owned the North Merrick Deli until he moved his family to Orange County in 1977.
In California, Rice worked in the restaurant and kitchen design business, but always hoped to return to teaching. He also was a guitar player, an avid painter, and enjoyed vacationing with his long-term girlfriend, Ann Murray.
Although Rice lived in Riverside, over the past six years he frequently visited Malibu to see his daughter, Stacey. While visiting Malibu, he enjoyed sitting at the bar at Taverna Tony and telling jokes to the bartenders.
Rice is survived by his son, Frank Joseph Rice Jr.; his daughter, Stacey Rice; his former wife, Janet Rice and his two sisters in New York, Janice Holdridge and Joann Pitelli.
There will be a small service in Rice’s honor at 1 p.m. on Sunday at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, located at 28211 Pacific Coast Highway. His sisters have suggested that in lieu of flowers, any donations be made to St. Mary’s Church in Amityville, N.Y.