Frances A. Fronckus

Frances Anna Tiberi Sestili Fronckus passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loving husband and family.

Frances was born to Peter Tiberi Sestili and Minnie (Coons) Sestili on March 1st, 1927 in Greenfield, MA.  She graduated from Greenfield High School in 1945 and later attended Northampton Junior College. Frances worked for Raytheon in Greenfield making fuses for radio tubes used during WWII.  She also worked at Eastern Textile, Lunt Silversmith, and in Human Resources at the Greenfield Tap and Die. She retired from the Advising Center at the College of Food and Natural Resources at the University of Massachusetts in 1994. She loved working in the Advising Center because she enjoyed helping and talking with students and parents from all over the world.

Frances married Edwin Fronckus on August 17th, 1946. This year would have been their 77th wedding anniversary. Ed and Fran built a house in Turners Falls and later built a retirement home on their farm in Montague Center, where they had Morgan horses, Hereford cows, chickens and a large garden.  For many years they had docking privileges on Lake Spofford where they kept their sailboat and motorboat which gave them and their grandchildren great enjoyment. Fran loved to cook large meals for her family each week and on holidays, she loved her Italian heritage, the beach and traveling. She and Ed traveled throughout New England, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, England, Europe, and Italy where they have many relatives. They spent the winter months in Clearwater Beach, Florida.

She was a loving and caring wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and aunt. She will be dearly missed by her family: husband Edwin; daughter Diane and her husband Mark Duvall of Shutesbury; grandson Michael Fronckus Flynn of Montague Center; granddaughter Lauren and her husband David Devine of Shutesbury; great-grandson Lincoln Edwin Devine of Shutesbury; a sister Mary McNeil of Dixfield, Maine; former son-in-law Michael Flynn of Montague, and many nieces and nephews. Besides her parents, she is predeceased by her three sisters: Joan Ryan, Clara Jablonski, and Ruth Sestili.

The family would like to thank Susan and Danielle from Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst, Dr. Paul Sahd of Hadley Family Practice, and Dr. Steven Lee Chang of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital for their excellent care and compassion.

A liturgy of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday, August 8th at 11AM at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church with Rev. Sean O’Mannion officiating. Burial will follow in Our Lady Of Czestochowa Cemetery. A calling hour at McCarthy Funeral Home, 14 Prospect St, Turners Falls, MA will be held from 9:30AM to 10:15AM with a prayer service beginning at 10:15AM followed by dismissal at 10:30AM to process to church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Hospice of the Fisher Home, 1165 North Pleasant St, North Amherst, MA. 01002  or at www.fisherhome.org

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