Frank Papalia was the rock of Hamilton mafia family

He settled in a secludedhome on Hamilton's West Mountain, swore infrequently and had a reputation for conducting business in a polite, gentlemanly manner.

Frank Papalia wasnt known for the flashiness or the bluster of his older brother Johnny. He managed his familys dealings from behind the scenes and served, as one crime writer has put it, as a rock for the formidable Hamilton, Ont.,clan.

One of the last remaining figuresfrom one of Ontarios most infamous mafia dynasties, Papalia died on Tuesday at the age of 83.

With the former mobsters death, a piece of history is gone, says author James Dubro, who wrote Mob Mistress, a 1989 expos about Shirley Ryce, an ex-lover of Papalias and a former informant for the police.

Papalias legacy is hard to say exactly, he said. But the writer paints a picture of a man who was conservative and an old-school gentleman-type.

Different from his brother

Born in 1930 to bootlegger Antonioand wife Maria, Papalia came of age in the 1950s and 60s, when the Calabrian mafia dominated theHamilton underworld.

• Related: Canada, a gateway for gangsters

He was kind of the rock of the Papalia crime family. Johnny was too much like Sonny Corleone, said Dubro, referencing James Caans hotheaded character in 1972s The Godfather. He flew off the handle too easily.

Like the fictional Corleone, Johnny was gunned down in broad daylight. On May 31, 1997, the 73-year-old wasfatally shot in front of Johnnys Railway Street office. The shooter, hit man Kenneth Murdock, later testified in court that members of the rival Musitano family ordered the execution-style killing.

While older brother Johnny a drug kingpin with a reputation for violence became known as The Enforcer, Frank considered himself first and foremost a businessman, said Dubro. He was heavily involved in the operationof the familys vending machine companies and ran a home insulation business that, in the late-1970s, ran afoul of the law. And it was Franks idea, Dubro said, to open the familys invitation-only Gold Key Club,a private hangout for the citys mobsters and other local power players.

Once in the 1980s, Dubro recalled, the writer entered the Papalias' office once to seek an interview, finding himself face-to-face with both Frank and Johnny. How each brother reacted to the request highlighted their differences.

[Frank] was reasonably polite, he said. While his brother was screaming, Get the f--k out of here, you c--------r, he would just say, Leave. "

Detached, classy and a bit aloof

Toronto Star journalist and organized crime expert Peter Edwards put the contrast in less colourful terms. Johnny, he said, lived in a downtown penthouse and was more accessible to people looking to meet with him.

• Paul Wilson: Lawyer chases will of Hamilton's biggest mobster

Frank lived in a very, very nice house on the escarpment overlookingthe city detached, classy and a bit aloof. And I think he was a bit like that himself.

Papalias relatively low-key demeanour didnt spare him from troubles with the law. In the early 80s, Papalia got caught for organizing for Ryce, his mistress and a longtime employee of the Gold Key Club, to have sex with his then-lawyer. He was charged with procurement,but later pleaded guilty to the less lurid charge of obstruction of justice, Dubro wrote in his book.

Edwards said he believes Papalia was deeply embarrassed by the incident, which was reported about extensively in the press.

Papalia also faced fraud charges for allegedly bilking the Canadian government through the family's home insulation company, but the case was eventually dropped.

Retirement

Its significant, Dubro noted, that Papalia apparently chose not to retaliate for his brothers violent death, opting instead for retirement.

According to his death notice, Papalia is survived by his daughter Rachael and two grandchildren. Two of his siblings brother Rocco and sister Antoinette Pugliese are still alive.

The family is hosting a visitation from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday at Friscolanti Funeral Chapel (43 Barton St. E). A funeral for Papalia is scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the same location.

Media reports suggest that Papalia suffered from Alzheimers in his later years.

But even if Papalia could have reminisced in detail about his time as a mafia lieutenant, Dubro speculates, he was never going to tell about it.