Frank C. Rockaitis, 86, moved to America from Lithuania when he was 3 and despite an 8th-grade education, taught himself mechanical engineering and retired as a supervisor with the City of Chicago’s Water Department. Mr. Rockaitis died Sunday, March 19, in his Garfield Ridge home of heart failure. He grew up in Wisconsin and as a teen moved on his own to Chicago to get a job with an auto manufacturer, doing upholstery work on cars. From there, he took various jobs including one as process engineer at Ford Motor Co., and at times running a side business repairing clients’ boats. Because of his self-taught skills, he was asked to teach a college course in mechanical engineering during the 1960s, said his stepson, Charles Miller. In the 1970s, he also managed a garage for the Illinois Department of Transportation in Elgin. After 10 years with the city’s Water Department, he retired in 1984. He was a lifetime member of the 23rd Ward Democratic Organization and worked closely on the expansion plans at Midway Airport. Other survivors include his wife, Dorothy; stepdaughter, Michaelene Conrad; four daughters, Maryann Whitcomb, Frances Orth, Geri Orth, Maura Whittingham; a sister, Mary Beinar; a brother, Edward; 18 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. The funeral will be held at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday in Richard-Midway Funeral Home, 5749 Archer Ave.
