Esther Whitney Giannetta
(June 20, 1927 – August 3, 2019)
Esther Whitney Giannetta, the wife of Frank Giannetta, died on July 3, 2019 from
complications of a gall bladder infection. She was 92 years old. Esther and her
younger sister Ruth grew up in Livermore Falls, Maine where her parents were
schoolteachers. She attended Boston University for 2 years where she earned
an associates degree in art history. Esther and Frank married in 1947, first living
in Yonkers, New York and then Dorchester, Mass before moving to Canton in
1955. After living on Legion Street until 1966, they moved with sons James and
Russell into their new house at 38 Greenlodge Street. Esther was a homemaker,
a volunteer and for many years an active member of the Unitarian Universalist
Church in Canton. She was an avid reader of fiction and nonfiction with a keen
sense of politics, movies and popular culture. While she resided in Canton, her
her spiritual home always remained "the farm", her family's summer house on the
shore of the St. Croix River in Maine. It was there, on a July 4 day that she first
met Frank, then a young Seabee stationed nearby. Throughout her life, Esther's
warmth, intelligence, humor and remarkable memory united her family. To all of
them, her loss is profound and immeasurable.