Albert Anthony Giandomenico, 94, a lifelong resident of Walpole, died serenely surrounded by his family on March 25th in the School Street family home he built with his beloved wife Frieda in 1950.
Born May 24, 1921 on Main St. in Walpole Center to Enrico and Annunziata (Torelli) Giandomenico, he graduated from Walpole High School in 1939. That year’s yearbook listed him and Frieda Vivian Balduf as “class couple”, and they were wed on June 13, 1943, celebrating their 72nd anniversary last year. A star in football and basketball, the yearbook also named him “best athlete” in the class.
Following high school he worked at Kendall Mills until joining the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he became an insurance salesman for John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. For the next thirty-eight years he walked various local debits and became a well known presence on the streets of Walpole. He won many John Hancock “Man of the Year” awards and was named to the company’s exclusive National President’s Club.
A firm believer in formal education, Al took particular pride in the fact that each of his five children prepped at The Choate School, Milton Academy or Noble & Greenough School and graduated from Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale or Skidmore. An avid sports fan, Al was a fixture at Walpole sporting events for the past seventy-five years, often with cigar in hand. He also witnessed his five children and twelve grandchildren compete on various fields, rinks and gyms throughout New England.
Al and Frieda spent their summers at their home on Cape Cod and winters at their condo in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. They were avid dancers and loved music, especially Dixieland Jazz. They travelled extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe, including a visit to Al’s ancestral home in Alanno, Italy. Al also travelled to such places as Casablanca, Marrakesh, Hong Kong and Beijing. His last overseas journey was with his eldest son and grandson through the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.
Al served for over fifty years as an usher at The Blessed Sacrament Church and was a decades long member of the Walpole Italian-American Club, American Legion Post 104 and the Knights of Columbus.
In addition to his wife Frieda, he is survived by his sons Frederick, Albert A. Jr. and wife Holly, Edward and wife Sonia, David and wife Lori, and his favorite daughter Donna Murphy and husband Neil, all of Walpole. He was the grandfather of twelve: Antin, Andrew, Joseph, Alexandra, Kristina, Caroline Frieda, Rocco, Albert A. III, Thomas, and Cynthia Giandomenico and Vivian and Neil Murphy, Jr., all of Walpole.
Al was the brother of Frances Hudson and the late Gina Luttazi, Tripoli and Nicholas Giandomenico, Annie Lee, and Angelo and Anthony Bonardi.
A Funeral Mass will be held at The Blessed Sacrament Church on Saturday, April 9, at 11:00 a.m. Visiting hours will be on Friday, April 8, from 4-8 p.m. in the Ginley Funeral Home, 892 Main Street, Walpole.(www.ginleyfuneralhomes.com) Walpole. Donations in Frieda and Al's memory may be made to the Young America's Foundation, 11480 Commerce Park Drive, 6th Floor, Reston, VA 20191 or to the Perkins School for the Blind, 175 North Beacon St., Watertown, MA 02472.