Mayor poured energy into community, business
When the 2-year-old grandson of Alfred Franci, then mayor of Plum, suffered a seizure in the 1980s, his family drove him to the hospital rather than wait 25 minutes for an ambulance. The boy's heart stopped beating at the hospital before he was revived.
Appalled, Mr. Franci later encouraged the borough council to approve paid, around-the-clock emergency medical service.
“He loved Plum Borough, believed in it and wanted to make a difference,” said his daughter, Laurie Hart of Highland Park.
Alfred J. Franci died of a stroke on Friday, Nov. 22, 2013, in Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville. He was 81.
He was born in Wilmerding to Gina and Louis Franci, Italian immigrants. His father was a contractor and his mother, a homemaker. He grew up in Turtle Creek, graduated from high school there and helped his father build houses.
Mr. Franci spent a year working at a railroad, then served as an apprentice for a floor-installing business. He started a company, Alfred Franci Tile, in 1954. The business expanded and became Franci Cos.
Despite his civic involvement and the demands of work, politics and his family, he never complained of being tired, said his wife, Marlene Franci of Plum.
“He had the energy that most of us don't,” she said.
Mr. Franci served on the Plum Planning Commission, Plum Council and was appointed mayor in 1988 when the elected mayor could not finish his term. When the Democratic Committee did not endorse him, he ran a successful write-in campaign. He was elected again on the Democratic ticket four years later.
He bought his daughter a quarter horse and made a riding ring for her at their house. One day, she was riding and practicing her horsemanship when she asked him how she was doing.
“He put his hand on my leg and said, ‘That was great, but I want you to practice more. It doesn't matter how old you are. Always be a professional at whatever you do. If you're not going to do the best that you can do, don't even bother doing it at all,' ” Hart recalled.
From that day on, she practiced four hours a day, seven days a week, and won local, county and state titles.
In addition to his wife, Marlene, and daughter, Laurie, Mr. Franci is survived by daughter Korri Dice of Murrysville; sons, Brett Franci of Plum and Alfred “Fred” Franci II of DuBois; sisters, Alma Guckert of Harrison City and Ellen Carosso of Sarasota, Fla.; and nine grandchildren.
Mr. Franci was preceded in death by a sister, Lena Hermann, and a brother, Frank Franci.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in Maurice L. Knee Ltd. Funeral Home, 7663 Saltsburg Road, Plum. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Our Lady of Joy Church in Plum. Interment will follow in Plum Creek Cemetery.
Bill Zlatos is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7828 or bzlatos@tribweb.com.
