John Francis Lengyel

1940 - 2025

John Francis Lengyel
November 4, 2025
John Francis Lengyel passed away peacefully on November 4, 2025, in the home of his son, Timothy Francis Lengyel, in San Francisco. He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Frances Anne Lengyel (née Barber); his mother, Louise Miriam Lengyel (née Mothersbaugh); his father, Louis Joseph Lengyel; and his brother, Bobby Lengyel. He is survived by his sisters, Joan Raczkowski and Ann Marie Carey; by his brothers, Ronnie and Kenny; and by his sister- and brother-in-law, Joyce (née Barber) and Lawrence Tucker. He is also survived by his brother-in-law, George Raczkowski, and his sisters-in-law, Sally Lengyel and Kim Lengyel. He was predeceased by his brother-in-law, Tommy Carey. He was survived by his sister-in-law, Barbara Lengyel, who is now deceased.
John was born on June 10, 1940, in Waterbury, Connecticut, and was a lifelong resident of Naugatuck, Connecticut, where he attended St Francis School from kindergarten through 8th grade. He graduated from Naugatuck High School in 1959, where he was on the football team as a lineman and on the swim team as a springboard diver. He then volunteered for the draft and served in the U.S. Army Military Police in Würzberg, Germany, until his honorable discharge in 1961.
John started working as a plater of industrial instruments for the Bristol Babcock Company in Waterbury, CT, in 1961, and retired in 2005. During this time, he met his wife, Frances, and they married at St Francis of Assisi in Naugatuck on April 8th, 1973, honeymooned in Bermuda, and had Timmy in 1976. Frances passed away of brain cancer in 1982, and he remained faithful for the rest of his life. He took on a second overlapping career as a bank courier at Naugatuck Valley Savings & Loan from 1983 to 2015, when he finally fully retired. In the 1980s and 1990s, he served as one of the first eucharistic ministers at Saint Francis and on the parish council. He was affectionately referred to as the "Naugatuck elf" by some of his family for unsolicited acts of kindness and services he performed for friends and family, such as mowing their lawns.
John traveled periodically to Military Police reunions across the country, as well as to pilgrimages to Lourdes, a West Coast road trip with Timmy in 2001, and a trip to Rome in 2013, where he and 5,000 other people had an audience with Pope Francis. John spent his last 11 winters in San Francisco with Tim and his partner, Alexis Wallace, at their house, becoming an honorary member of the Wallace family, reveling in frequent family events, and always bringing back souvenirs or stories from his solo adventures exploring San Francisco by bus, train, and ferry in the earlier years.
John loved nothing more than family gatherings, and with a large family he had plenty of opportunities. He remained close to his brothers, sisters, in-laws, and extended family throughout his life. Kindness, compassion, and generosity were hallmarks of his personality.
To know John was to hear tales of mid-century Naugatuck, to laugh at his frequent quips, to marvel at his dedication to tradition of all kinds, and to understand his enduring love for his wife, Franny, and their son, Timmy. John will be missed, and he will be remembered.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, April 8th, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Church, Naugatuck, followed by burial at St. James Cemetery, Naugatuck.