Frank Filia was a jazz musician, artist, poet, storyteller, husband, uncle and friend who enjoyed talking about his life in Las Vegas and Johnstown’s old mob days while sipping on cognac when he had money or brandy when dollars were tight. Filia, who lived in Old Conemaugh Borough, died on Tuesday at age 86. Last year, he spoke about life and death when he was profiled in The Tribune-Democrat’s In the Spotlight feature.

“Don’t be afraid of death,” he said. “Be afraid of an unlived life, and I lived it.” Filia’s obituary referred to him as “a musician whose long and eventful life epitomized the resilience, challenges, and talents of first-generation Italian Americans” and “a man of the people who cared deeply for his family and others.”