Kristo A. Gregory

Kristo A. Gregory, 79, formerly of Sudbury and then Framingham, died Saturday, September 17, 2011 in Autumn Village Nursing Home.

He leaves his wife of 49 years, Mary (Efthim) Gregory; 2 daughters, Katherine Gregory wife of Angelo Cacciuto of New York City, and Jennifer Gjulameti of New York and Massachusetts; his sister, Georgika Boria of Southport, Connecticut, and his brother, Theodore Gregory of Worcester. He was predeceased by his brother, Kastriot of New York.

Born in Progre, Albania, son of Andrew and Krisula (Kallini) Gregory, at age six he immigrated with his family to New York City where he grew up and was educated. After enlisting in Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) US Air Force, he received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Manhattan College, followed by four years in the U.S. Air Force in which he was a navigator flying internationally in the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) program. After re-enlisting, he was honorably discharged as a Captain from the Air Force Reserve. He worked at Laboratory for Electronics (LFE), an engineering firm. Later switching careers, he received an M.B.A. from Babson College and worked in finance as a stock broker first at Paine Webber in Boston, then at LF Rothchild in Boston, and finally as a VP of Investments at Prudential Securities formerly in Wellesely, MA. Concurrently, he taught Finance at Babson College and then was a Senior Lecturer teaching Corporate Finance at Northeastern University's graduate school for thirty-one years.

Always athletic, he was a high school all star athlete in baseball, and at the age of eighteen was invited to try out for the New York Yankees. A shoulder injury prohibited him from pursuing that dream. Being musically inclined in both violin and singing, he was a choir director for St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church formerly in Manhattan, a choir director for St. Mary's Annunciation Albanian Orthodox Church in Natick, Mass., and later was a member of, and sang in the choir for, St. Mary's Assumption Albanian Orthodox Church in Worcester, Mass. He had a passion for mathematics, science, and history, and was an avid reader of the writings of Sir Winston Churchill and the military history of World Wars I & II.

He will be greatly missed by family and friends for his intelligence, charm, and wit.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21 in St. Mary's Assumption Albanian Orthodox Church, 535 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609. The Burial will be in Hope Cemetery, Worcester, MA. Calling Hours will be from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20 at Caswell-King Funeral Home, 474 Grove St., Worcester, MA. A Trisagion service will be held at 6:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Mary's Assumption Albanian Orthodox Church.