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BORN
1934
DIED
2016
FUNERAL HOME
Frances Coco Obituary
Frances (D'Amico) Coco, 81, formerly of Hartford, beloved wife of the late Salvatore Coco and mother of the late John Coco, passed away peacefully on Monday, September 12, 2016. Born in Floridia, Sicily on October 7, 1934, she was the daughter of the late Pasquale and Sebastiana (Correnti) D'Amico. She retired from Travelers after many years of service. Frances' life revolved around her eight children and there was nothing she enjoyed more than spending time with them. A wonderful and loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, she will be dearly missed by her children, Dominick Coco and wife Teresa of East Hartford, Joe Coco and wife Karla of NC, Maryann Laffin and husband Daniel of East Hartford, Sandra Brady and husband Scott of Vernon, Peter Coco and wife Judy of Portland, Salvatore Coco and wife Darleen of CA and Lisa Polzella and husband Lou of Wolcott; daughter-in-law, Kim Coco of TX; 16 adored grandchildren, Karah, Stephen, Paul, David, Nicholas, Ashley, Bryan, Spencer, Jennifer, Daniel III, Jessica, Jordan, Rachel, Ben, Lauren and Mattea and 17 cherished great-grandchildren. She is also survived by two brothers, Aldo and Sal D'Amico; a special sister-in-law, Angela Larosa, as well as several nieces and nephews. Frances was also predeceased by her brother, Joe D'Amico. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday (September 16) at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church, 285 Church St., Hartford. Everyone is asked to please go directly to the church. Burial will follow in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford. Family and friends may call on Thursday from 4-7 p.m. at the D'Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Blvd., Wethersfield. Donations in Frances' memory may be made to the National Down Syndrome Society, P.O. Box 4916, New York, NY 10185 or to a charity of the donor's choice. To share a memory of Frances with her family, please visit www.desopo.com.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Frances Coco
Sponsored by the family.
Darleen Coco
October 15, 2016
October 7th
Happy Birthday to the bravest and strongest woman I have ever known. You are missed.
Mary Ann Laffin
October 15, 2016
Mary Ann Oct 7th
Happy birthday in heaven to a beautiful amazing strong woman whom we all will dearly miss so much, we love you Mom
Scott Brady
October 15, 2016
Scott Brady Sep 13th
My mother-in-law Frances Coco died Monday evening. I'd like to thank my wife Sandra and her
siblings for sharing their mom with me for the last 38 years. I think Franca took a liking to me
when I first meet Sandra's family in a process very similar to the inquisition. I'm sure this
helped me win over her husband Sal and for that I am forever grateful.
She always feed me as if I hadn't eaten in days. One of the dishes she made was lasagna, which
I loved, with slices of hard-boiled eggs, which I hate, in the layers. It wasn't a big deal as they
were easy to pick out and the lasagna was delicious. After seeing the pile of carefully excavated
egg on the side of my plate, France began creating a LARGE egg-free corner of the lasagna for
ME. It was the first piece cut and served, or carefully put away for days when I was working in
the firehouse.
After the first Brady-Coco family gathering, my mom made sure she let me know, I like her,
she's tough. And so started a mutual admiration that has since lasted. They would chat during
family events and send messages and inquiries back and forth through Sandra and I. They were always
checking up on each other through the loss of their husbands and through their respective health
problems. My mom's funeral was on a very hot and humid September day
and the gravesite is up a fairly steep grade from the access road where we parked. Somehow,
Franca's ride was even further down the road due to all the vehicles there. At one point I looked up to see my
80 year old, blind mother-in-law, who was dealing with arthritis and back problems,
trudging up the steep grade in the hot sun to be at graveside. When I spoke to her after the service, I asked
why she had made the difficult trek up the hill instead of just staying in the air conditioned car. Without
hesitation Franca said, I had to. She deserved it. There were many wonderful stories and warm regards
shared with me after my mother's death, but Franca's was the one that touched me the most.
Rest easy Franca. I know you definitely deserve it.
Nicole Laffin
October 15, 2016
Nicole Laffin Sep 13th
As we say goodbye to this amazing women we are sad but joyful for all the love she has given. She opened her arms and accepted me as a granddaughter with no question. She loved each and every one of her sons and daughters and all of her grandchildren and great grand babies. And trust me there are a lot. Mema you will forever be in our hearts. We love you.
Jessica Glantz
October 15, 2016
Jessica Glantz Sep 13th
Late last night, my family lost the strongest woman I have ever known. Mema, I will always remember you as the most caring, generous, and most loving person. As a little girl, I remember walking into your house, always smelling so good, and you would be in your "basement kitchen", always happy to be cooking up a feast for everyone who was over, "asking, are we playing cards tonight after dessert?"
I will always remember Christmas eve's as a child, something I don't think any one of my family members will ever forget, they were filled with so much spirit, love, and laughter. It was a time I will forever cherish. This past year has been a bumpy road for you, and I hate to say goodbye, but it's comforting to know you are now free of pain, free of medications, and are now reunited with the love of your life, and Uncle John. We love you!
Rachel Brady
October 15, 2016
Poem Eve by Rachel Ann Rae Brady, Frances' grand-daughter ; 2008-May
EVE
My grandmother walks through her garden
The way most people walk through museums-
As if the plants have a soul that her eyes can't see.
I used to weed it for her, my stubby fingers grazing the soil
As her weathered hands showed me
Which stems to pluck, and which ones, if left behind,
would turn into something beautiful.
I can imagine her as a young woman
When her eight children and house left her weary,
Bending to whisper to the tomatoes in her garden,
Lending a sympathetic ear to the eggplants,
Slowly working her way through the rows, as if they were works of art,
Admiring each in its own magnificence,
Perfection with roots and stems.
I like to think that in those moments, she realized
That she too was perfect.
Eve, at home in her Paradise.
Over the years the garden has faded away,
Evaporating like the colors of a picture that has
Been sitting too long in the sun,
Until all that's left is ordinary grass
Thoroughly stomped on by my tiny cousin's chubby feet.
My grandmother watches with a small smile.
I think about what she has given up to be a mother,
The life she could have lived,
And I wonder if maybe Eve knew what she was doing when she ate the apple,
Giving up her garden to become Mother of everything.
Love, Rachel
May 2008
Paul Coco
October 15, 2016
Eulogy by Pablo Joseph Paul Coco, Frances' grand-son; 2016-Sep-16
I knew Francis Coco as Nona.
She was in fact a remarkable woman. She survived unimaginable conditions growing up in wartorn
Sicily in World War II. She came to the United States in her early twenties with her
husband and two young children. She had a full-time job for a number of years working second
shift and raised her eight children. Eight children that alone should qualify you for sainthood,
especially when I think of my uncle Peter as a child. Most days I find myself losing my mind
with just three!!
She endured the pain of the loss of one of her sons, and her husband a few years after. She
never gave up and continued to live her life to the fullest.
She was the quintessential Nonna, the Italian grandmother that cooked incredible food, spoke
with an Italian accent and only occasionally talked using hers hands when she was fired up. She
had very special individual personal relationships with each of her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.
For most of the grandkids it was almost a rite of passage for Nana to pull your baby tooth as
they were ready to fall out.
I remember my brother David telling Nonna before he ever mentioned anything to her parents
that he wanted to ask Christina to marry him.
I remember the pride she had on her face as my daughter Isa pushed her wheelchair down the
halls of her retirement with Ethan sitting on her lap announcing to everyone he met, That's
mine Nonna.
She was kind caring loving except when she was in the kitchen. She was the original iron chef.
For Larger family gatherings, she would recruit my mother and aunts as her personal sous
chefs. She directed there every movement and demanded perfection in all her dishes. She was
in her element when she cooked. She had a utility kitchen in the basement where she
conquered most of the major dishes. And use the kitchen upstairs for cakes pies and desert.
My earliest memories of visiting her house on 34 Chester Street as a child, were the smells of
roasted garlic and tomatoes sauce. She always made sure her family was well fed and had at
least a week's worth of left overs for each of her kids.
She prided herself on her sauce. It was the centerpiece of all her recipes. She had a garden of
over 50 tomato plants that she grew even years after Nonno's death. When she visited me and
my cousin Ashley in Maryland she was inspired by the Baltimore farmers market and bought a
crate of tomatoes. She had Ashley visit five different stores across Baltimore County to find the
perfect food mill. By the time she left Ashley and I had over a year's supply of tomato sauce!!
She lived for her family. Her one true joy in life was being around all of us during holidays and
birthdays. You would always see her with a smile holding one of her great-grandchildren. At
times I would see her sitting there smiling quietly taking everything amongst the chaos of over
ten loud, cranky, overtired children, reminiscing of past Christmases and birthdays from the
times where her children or grandchildren were younger. I would imagine in those moments
she felt an overwhelming calm and peace that her family was in fact her greatest achievement.
I will never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away forgetting. Those
we love never truly leave us. There are things that death cannot touch...
Jessica Glantz
October 15, 2016
Eulogy by Jessia Glantz (née Laffin), Frances' grand-daughter; 2016-Sep-16
Thank you everyone for coming to celebrate the life of this beautiful soul Frances Coco, also
known to her family as Mom, Nonna, Mema, and Old Mema. Her main priorities in life were
the love her of life Salvatore, her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Cooking was
always one of her passions, because it was something that brought everybody together, even
when there was nothing needed to celebrate. As a child, one of my most precious memories
that I will always hold dear to my heart, were her Christmas eves. The Christmas tree had so
many ornaments on it, you couldn't even see the tree itself, the amount of food she would cook
was enough to feed two countries, the dessert table looked like full glass case to a bakery. That
is what she loved, that is what she lived for, precious moments, and memories being made with
everyone close to her heart all under one roof. After her love, my grandfather Salvatore passed
away, her heart was forever broken, there was such a void now missing in her life. I truly
believe, God and my Grandfather, sent special gift to her to help her heal, and go back to living
her life with passion and purpose, my little cousin Mattea was born. She adored all of her
grandchildren with all of her heart, but Mattea was her golden child, her second chance, her
baby to now help care for. And no I am not jealous, because I know I was her second favorite,
sorry guys. I know right now she sees us upset and mourning the loss of her life, but in her
strong Italian accent, I can hear her yelling at us all "What's the matta with you, stop crying!"
May you rest in peace Mema, and dance with Pepa forever in the heavens, we will all treasure
our memories, your love, and most importantly your sacred food recipes. We love you, until
we meet again.
Salvatore Coco
October 8, 2016
I miss you so very much. I hope your celebrating a wonderful birthday up there with Papa. We love you
Darleen Coco
September 25, 2016
This amazing woman welcomed me into her family almost 25 years ago when I married her youngest son. There could not be a better mother-in-law than Frances. She never interfered, but was always helpful. When she visited us in CA, she made sure I was fully equipped with all of the proper pots and pans to be a good Italian wife. She showed me all of her recipes, step by step. She also helped me with my part of our garden when I could not distinguish the wildflowers from the weeds. When we would visit her in CT, we would enjoy just sitting outside and enjoying the weather. But my favorite memory of her is with Papa at the kitchen table talking in Italian. Although I could not understand any of the words, it all sounded very exciting and animated! As the years went on, I was awed by the strength she exhibited as Matriarch of the Coco family, keeping it together as it grew and grew, and grew!! It all started with her and her beloved Turuzzo and now they are together while their children carry on their legacy. She was deeply loved and will be missed just as deeply.
Steve Tucker
September 15, 2016
Terry, my deepest sympathy to you and your family.
A Michelle Greaves
September 14, 2016
Lisa and Family,
May the memory of your beloved Mom, sustained you now and always, Michelle
D'Esopo Funeral Home
September 14, 2016
Our deepest condolences on your loss. The D’Esopo Family.
Showing 1 - 13 of 13 results
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Memorial Events
for Frances Coco
Sep
15
Calling hours
4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
D'Esopo Funeral Chapel277 Folly Brook Boulevard, Wethersfield, CT 06109
Funeral services provided by:
D'Esopo Funeral Chapel277 Folly Brook Boulevard, Wethersfield, CT 06109
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