Kathryn Franzoni

Kathryn Helen Kline Franzoni died peacefully on Friday Jan. 24, at Berkshire Medical Center after a short illness. Mrs. Franzoni was born at home in New Orleans, La., on Dec. 2, 1919, to Robert Watt and Kathryn Doyle Kline, both natives of Vicksburg, Miss. Educated at the Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, Mrs. Franzoni began her career working in the personnel department of the Federal Reserve Bank of New Orleans. She married John Carlos Franzoni on May 9, 1944, and the couple moved to his hometown of Washington, D.C., where she later resided at their home in Chevy Chase, Md., until 2012. Mrs. Franzoni worked for the US Chamber of Commerce and from 1967 until her retirement in the Montgomery County Public School System. She spent her final years in the care of Kimball Farms Nursing Center in Lenox. Mrs. Franzoni was the final surviving member of her generation and was known for her wonderful stories of family history as well as her baking and lovely family meals. Most remembrances start with, "We were all sitting around the dining room table and .." She will be most remembered for her selfless caregiving, her independence, her inner strength in the face of adversity, and her love for the movie "Gone With The Wind". She was predeceased by her parents; by her husband; by her siblings, Beverly and Robert Kline, and by one infant child, Mark Franzoni. Mrs. Franzoni is survived by her children and their families, Carl Franzoni and his wife, Barbara, of Middletown, Conn., Robert Franzoni and his wife, Georgette, of Warrenton, Va., and Lauryn Franzoni and her husband Stan Pederson of Lenox; her grandchildren, Meredyth Franzoni Pederson of Austin, Texas, Suzanne Franzoni Kleeman and her husband, Andrew Kleeman, of Longmeadow, and Michael and Jennifer Franzoni of Cumberland, R.I., and her great-grandchildren, Jacob and Spencer Kleeman, and Morgan and Nolan Franzoni. FUNERAL NOTICE: A Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Noon on Saturday, Feb. 1, at St. Ann's Church, 134 Main Street, Lenox, by the Rev. Christopher J. Waitekus, pastor. Burial at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., will be held later at the convenience of the family. Donations in Kathryn's memory may be made to the Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center Staff Appreciation Fund in care of the ROCHE FUNERAL HOME, 120 Main St. Lenox, MA 01240.

Kathryn Franzoni

January 24, 2014