Frieda Vivian (Balduf) Giandomenico, 94, a lifelong resident of Walpole, died peacefully with her family by her side on March 29, at her home on School Street in Walpole. She was at her husband Al’s bedside when he passed away on Good Friday, in the same home just four days earlier.
Born May 25, 1921 at the Balduf family home on Bullard Street in Walpole to Fred C. and Lillis (Darrow) Balduf, she graduated from Walpole High School in 1939. The yearbook listed her and Albert Giandomenico as “class couple” and they were wed on June 13, 1943, celebrating their 72nd anniversary last year.
After graduating high school she worked at the Bird and Son box factory in East Walpole until the impending birth of her first child in 1950. For the next twenty years she was a full time mother, wife and homemaker until her youngest child started high school.
She then re-entered the work force at Raytheon Corp. in Norwood. She was an avid reader and a firm believer in education. When her older children were unable to attend kindergarten, she essentially “home-schooled” them in preparation for their entry into first grade. Her “home-schooling” in life’s lessons expanded to her grandchildren and continued until her passing. She always made her home comfortable and welcoming to family and friends from near and far.
Her hobbies included card playing, dancing, bowling and gardening. She was particularly fond of her weekly card playing at “old-bats day” gatherings. A skilled seamstress and konditormeister, she provided her children with custom tailored shirts, blouses, dresses and sweaters as well as homemade cakes and cookies boxed for travel when they journeyed to schools and destinations around the world.
Frieda and Al travelled extensively throughout the United States and Europe. They spent their summers at their home on Cape Cod and winters at their condo in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
She is survived by sons Frederick, Albert A. Jr. and wife Holly, Edward and wife Sonia, David and wife Lori, and her favorite daughter Donna Murphy and husband Neil, all of Walpole. She was the adored grandmother 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.
Frieda is also survived by her sister Dorothy Kleimola of Walpole and many nieces and nephews. She was the sister of the late Lydia, Alma, Jenny (McNally), Elsie (Cullinane), Evelyn, Lillian (Daly), Lawrence, Alfred, Morton, and Ellsworth Balduf.
A funeral mass will be celebrated for both Frieda and Al at the Blessed Sacrament Church, Diamond St. Walpole, on April 9 at 11:00 am.
Internment at the St. Francis Cemetery, Walpole.
Visiting hours for Frieda and Al to be held Friday April 8, from 4:00-8:00pm at the Ginley Funeral Home, 892 Main St. Walpole(www.ginleyfuneralhomes.com)
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.