Italo Renzo “Larry” Franceschi died peacefully on August 7th. He had been living for the past 3 years in Western Mass. to be near his son Greg's family, but lived most of his
adult life in the Natick / Wayland area. He was born to Silvia and Theodore Franceschi in
Brandeglio, Italy, on June 17th, 1921.
He immigrated to the United States in 1928 and was educated in New York City Public Schools (Townsend Harris, 1939, and City College of New York, B.S., 1944). While a student, Larry worked at the 42nd Street New York Public Library, where he met his future wife, Ida D’Angelo. They married on September 2nd, 1944. Although trained as a Civil Engineer, Larry’s first job involved applying his background in structural analysis to design of the Grumman F6 Hellcat, one of the major fighter aircraft of WWII. Through a combination of on the job training and night courses at Princeton, he became an aeronautical engineer. In 1945, he and Ida moved to Los Angeles, California, where he was a team leader at Northrop. He worked on several important jet aircraft including the F89 Scorpion and the YB-49 Flying Wing, which foreshadowed the stealth bomber by some 40 years. He also earned a private pilot’s license. Larry moved his family to the Wayland/Natick area in 1954 where he joined the Missile Systems Division of Raytheon. He worked there until his retirement
as a Project Manager in 1986 .
Larry will be remembered for his keen intellect and broad interests in history, science and foreign languages (Italian, passable French and Spanish and a smattering of German and Russian). He also loved poetry, classical music and opera. He was a loving, devoted husband and father and committed civic leader. He was a town meeting member and served several terms on the Natick Planning Board, helping to sensibly develop much of the Route 9 “Golden Mile”. A proud liberal democrat, he was active in local politics and loved nothing better than a good political discussion.
He is preceded in death by Ida, his wife of 63 years, his beloved daughter, Laura Joan, sister, Mary, and brother, Remo. Larry will be greatly missed by his two sons, Renny, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Greg, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, four grandchildren, Amelia, Julia, Laura and Leonardo, (we love you, Grampa) and daughters-in-law, Mary Leon Franceschi and Lisa Middents Franceschi.
A Memorial Mass will be held at St Zepherin’s Church at 10:30 am, Saturday, September 18th, Located in Cochituate Village, 99 Main Street, Wayland MA 01778.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity, Attn: Gifts from the Heart, 121 Habitat St. Americus, GA 31709-3498.
Arrangements under the direction of the John C. Bryant Funeral Home of Cochituate Village, Wayland.