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Former D.C. resident Franklin Dell’Aquila dies at 62

Business owner who also worked for Secret Service

Published

10 years ago

on

Franklin S. Dell’Aquila, gay news, Washington Blade

Franklin S. Dell’Aquila (Photo courtesy CAMP Rehoboth)

Franklin S. Dell’Aquila, who lived in D.C. beginning in the 1970s, where he worked for the U.S. Secret Service, owned a men’s clothing store and later became a hairstylist, died Aug. 8 at a hospice in Phoenixville, Pa. He was 62.

His longtime friend Tony Amato said the cause of death was complications associated with multiple sclerosis.

Dell’Aquila lived and worked in D.C. for close to 30 years before returning around 2000 to his hometown of Royersford, Pa. He was well known in gay community circles in D.C. and Rehoboth Beach, Del., according to Amato and others who knew him.

Amato said Dell’Aquila returned to Royersford to help his ailing mother and a disabled brother. While there, he changed careers to become a mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service where he worked for 10 years until his recent retirement.

He was born in nearby Pottstown, Pa., where he graduated in 1971 from St. Pius High School, according to a write-up prepared by family members.

“Franklin enjoyed music, loved to travel, and was an avid gardener, and enjoyed listening to Celtic music,” the write-up says.

Steve Elkins, executive director of CAMP Rehoboth, an LGBT community center in Rehoboth Beach, said he first met Dell’Aquila in the 1970s while Elkins worked at the White House during the administration of President Jimmy Carter and Dell’Aquila was assigned to the presidential detail with the Secret Service.

“I’ll never forget giving a friend a tour of the West Wing and seeing a silver haired agent, although he was in his early twenties, and finding out later it was Frank,” said Elkins.

Elkins said he and his partner, Murray Archibald, became good friends of Dell’Aquila’s when Elkins and Archibald moved to Rehoboth Beach and helped found CAMP Rehoboth.

“Frank was a long-time member of CAMP Rehoboth and a host of the annual Sundance Benefit,” said Elkins, who noted that Dell’Aquila became a regular weekend visitor to Rehoboth.

“We were all very lucky to have known him,” Amato said. “He was a great person, very generous and caring and a true friend. He had a lot of friends.”

Dell’Aquila is survived by his sister Diane Simon of North Wales, Pa.; a brother, John Dell’Aquila of Phoenixville, Pa.; several nieces and nephews; and many friends. Family members said a gift in his memory could be made to the ARC, a D.C.-based advocacy organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at thearc.org.

A memorial celebration of Dell’Aquila’s life is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 8, at 4 p.m. at the Horizon House Condominium Community Room, 1300 Army Navy Dr., Arlington, Va. Amato, who’s hosting the event, asks that those planning to attend RSVP at 703-892-6286.

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Comings & Goings

Meléndez, Rosen take new roles at Wanda Alston Foundation

Published

22 hours ago

on

April 11, 2026

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From left, Yadiel Meléndez and Ben Rosen

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected]. 

The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.

Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.

Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.  

Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.

Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).

Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.

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Rehoboth Beach

BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth

Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear

Published

2 days ago

on

April 10, 2026

By

Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach will host a BLUF leather social on Friday, April 10 at 5 p.m. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.

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District of Columbia

Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel

Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.

Published

2 days ago

on

April 10, 2026

By

(Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.

A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.). 

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