HHI president Dominic Frinzi dies at 86

Dominic H. Frinzi Jr., the long-serving president of Harness Horsemen International, a member of Harness Racing’s Hall of Fame, and one of harness racing’s most vociferous advocates, died Monday at his Milwaukee home following a lengthy illness. He was 86.

Visitation will be on Monday, Feb. 4, from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. (CST) at the Schmidt and Bartelt Funeral Home, located at 10121 West North Ave.in Wauwatosa, Wis., and a Requiem Mass will be said on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 12:00 noon, at Gesu Church, located at 1145 W. Wisconsin Ave. in Milwaukee.

Mr. Frinzi, who first became president of Harness Horsemen International in 1982 and headed the organization at the time of his death, was long known as a strident advocate of horsemen’s interests, but also spoke on issues affecting the entire industry. A common theme in Mr. Frinzi’s speeches were of the unity he said was needed to move the sport ahead.

“We should not divide ourselves into categories (as drivers, track owners, or breeders), but should unite in our purpose," Mr. Frinzi said when he last spoke before the annual meeting of the U.S. Trotting Association’s Board of Directors, last March in Columbus.

In addition to his elevation to the sport’s Living Hall of Fame in Goshen, N.Y. in 1996 and his election to the Wisconsin Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1998, Mr. Frinzi won many honors, including Harness Horsemen International’s Man of the Year Award and the U.S. Harness Writers’ Association’s Good Guy Award.

For approximately two decades he served on the Racing Committee of the American Horse Council, the horse industry’s voice in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Frinzi was also a dedicated member of his community--especially that part which reflected his Italian heritage and his career as an attorney. He was active with the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee, and in 2002 he was named Cavaliere all’Oprdine del Merito della Reppublica Italiana--a Knight of the Order of Merit from the Republic of Italy--by the Italian government. In 2005 he was named president of the National Italian-American Bar Association.

Earlier in his public career he ran, unsuccessfully, for governor of Wisconsinon the Democratic ticket; he won the 2005 Ray Cannon Justice Award, presented by the Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin; and he also served a term as a Milwaukee Countycircuit court commissioner.

Mr. Frinzi, who contemplated entering the priesthood as a young man, graduated from the Marquette School of Law in 1951.

Away from racing, the law, and civic affairs, grand opera was his passion, and one of his most thrilling nights was appearing--as a non-singing extra--in a production staged by Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera company, a group he served as a member of its board of directors. Mr. Frinzi also "aced" an opera quiz which appeared in a 2005 edition of the Italian-language newspaper Fra Noi, and thus became the first person to post a perfect score in the annual contest--which consisted of 40 questions--and he won the contest on three occasions. (USTA)

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