Frances Margaret Staiti, born July 9, 1920, in Utica, N.Y. to Italian immigrant parents, Joseph and Josephine Calamusa, departed this life on Oct. 15, 2006.
She was a devoted wife of 64 years to Joseph.
Loving mother of Joseph Staiti (Bonnie) of San Jose, Frank Staiti (Judy) of Plymouth Mass., and Marie Mattson (David) of Kelseyville.
Proud grandmother of Andrea Marie, Nicole Ann Staiti, Kim Riner, Tammy Hicks (Tom), Frank Staiti, David Joshua Walker (Jessica) and Vanessa Lambert (Adam).
Great-grandmother to Erick, Chandler, Dane, Torri, Harrison and Wiley. Sister to Angelina Staiti, Josephine Zukowski and Mary Aiello.
She was preceded in death by her daughter, Deborah Ann Staiti.
Raised in Utica, she moved to Massachusetts where she met and married her lifetime partner, Joseph, and had four children. They moved to San Jose in 1961, after retiring from Fairchild Semiconductor in MountainView, where she worked as a quality control supervisor. She and her husband moved to Nice in 1978.
Together with her husband, brother-in-law Al Staiti, sister Angelina Staiti and lifelong friends Guy and Vicki Bonnano, they founded the Lake County Lodge #2537 Sons of Italy chapter in Nice. She served as secretary and president along with organizing many activities. “Franny” was always active in every area of her life, continually volunteering for club activities and community services. She especially enjoyed putting together and participating in Reno trips!
Her family will always remember her fabulous cooking; she took great joy in overfeeding them! She loved to entertain (feed people) and there was always enough food for another place setting at her table. Her great meals will be a lasting memory for many.
Gardening was another passion of Franny”s and she would spend hours tending her flowers, which flourished in her care.
Although Frances was actually a little woman in statue, her personality was larger than life. Her two great-grandchildren even saw and called her “Big Nani.”
Frances was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer four years ago, yet she remained active and she continued to enjoy traveling, visiting places such as England, Aruba, Florida and most recently St. Martin. We all marveled at her tenacity and determination to live life to it fullest.
She was an inspiration to many of us and was loved dearly by friends and family, most notably her husband, who adored and cherished her as the love of his life. She has left a void in our lives and we will miss her presence.
A celebration of her life will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, at the Sons of Italy Hall in Nice.
Anyone wishing to make a donation in her name could do so to the Sons of Italy Building Fund, P.O. Box 327, Nice, CA 95464.
Please sign the guest book at www.record-bee.com, then click obituaries.
(Published in the Lake County Record-Bee on Wednesday, October 18, 2006.)
