Frances S. Fiorillo

Mrs. Frances Fiorillo, of West Hartford, CT previously of Alexandria, VA and Wilmington, NC, died April 25, 2014 at age 91. The daughter of John F. and Agnes L. Sullivan of Pelham, MA, she was born on January 4, 1923 in Holyoke, MA, and during her lifetime lived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Washington DC and Virginia. She graduated from Amherst High School, MA Class of 1940. She was preceded in death by her husband Michael Fiorillo, her brother John Preston Sullivan and her sister Marjorie Case. She is survived by her brothers; William, James and his wife Muriel, Daniel and his wife Maria, and her sisters Rose Stephens, Grace Ostheimer and her husband Art; her sister in law Gloria Sullivan and brother in law Richard Case; 24 nieces and nephews; Fiorillo brothers, Andrew, Vincent, Ralph and wife Fay, and Anthony and wife Ronnie; and 12 nieces and nephews. Fran began her working career in Washington, DC during World War II, with the Department of the Navy, as a secretary. She studied the designing of forms and worked seven years for the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, as Head of their Printing and Forms Control Section. She attended the American University in DC, then traveled cross-country for six months, by way of Mexico City. She worked temporarily in such places as New Orleans, Memphis, Houston, El Paso, Santa Fe, Denver, and San Francisco, where she worked for two years. On her six-month return trip, she worked in Seattle (traveled in Canada to Victoria, Vancouver, Lake Louise, and Banff), worked in Denver and Memphis, traveled to Montreal, Quebec, and Boston, where she worked for one year. Back in Washington, she worked for the Chief, Navy Management Office, then as a Computer Programmer and Systems Analyst for the Bureau of Naval Weapons and NAVCOSSACT. During this interval she was assigned to work in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for six months. After thirty years of service with the Navy Department, she took an early retirement at age 55, after which she worked for a variety of companies, in varied capacities, and last, for the law Firm of Foley and Lardner as their Recruiting Administrator. Upon her husband’s retirement in 1989, they moved to Wilmington, NC. Fran and her husband met through the Air Force Ski Club and were married, May 13, 1972, in Washington, DC after a three-month engagement!! They were well traveled (couldn’t resist a few trips to Italy and one to Spain). They loved classical music and opera. She was an avid bridge player, and both were sports-oriented: enjoyed golfing, boating, bicycling, swimming, dancing, and skiing. For each of the 30 years of their marriage, they skied in the West for two weeks every year. Fran attended both St. Mark and St. Therese Catholic Churches, and was active with the St. Therese Ladies Guild, of which she was president in 1993 and 1994. Funeral services will be Tuesday, April 29, 2014, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 a.m. at the Chapel at St. Mary Home, 2021 Albany Ave. West Hartford, CT. Friends may call from 9-9:45 a.m. Tuesday, at the Reflection Room (across from the Chapel). Burial will follow in St. Brigid’s Cemetery, corner of N. Maple and Rocky Hill Rd. Hadley, MA at 1:00 p.m., where her father, mother, grandmother and husband are interred. Donations in her memory may be made to Masonicare Hospice, 111 Founders Plaza, Suite 200, East Hartford, CT 06108.

Frances S. Fiorillo

January 4, 1923 - April 25, 2014