Frank (Francesco) Gozzo

Frank (Francesco) Gozzo, 94, of Newington, beloved husband of the late Laura (Bozzone) Gozzo for 64 years, passed away peacefully on Friday (February 7, 2014). Born in Hartford on January 21, 1920, he was the son of the late Rosario and Josephine (Melluzzo) Gozzo. Frank graduated from Weaver High School in 1938 and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II as a navigator and a flight school instructor in San Antonio, Texas. After the military service, he began a 36 year career at Travelers Insurance, retiring in 1980 as an officer of the company. Frank was an internal consultant, providing business solutions to motivation, work measurement and work simplification. After Travelers, he served as Vice President of Robert E. Nolan Consultants, advising a wide range of companies throughout the U.S. on business and work issues. Because of his background, he was a frequent presenter on work related issues to national organizations. An educator at heart, he was an instructor for the University of Connecticut’s International Program providing training and instruction to a wide range of international business, political and educational leaders in the fields of work management and simplification. While at Travelers, Frank was the co-founder of an amateur clown troop that entertained at wide range of children’s charitable and civic events. Frank was an active and founding member of the Newington Council of Knights of Columbus. He rose through the organization to become the Grand Knight. Frank and Laura were long time proponents of the rights of developmentally challenged children and adults. They were among the earliest supporters of HARC and Frank was one of its earliest presidents. He served the needs of others until this past fall where you could find him and other Newington K of C Knights distributing Tootsie Rolls at various stores for the benefit of HARC. This commitment continued throughout his life, culminating in his serving as Chairman of the Newington Committee hosting some 60 athletes and coaches from the Chilean National Team to the World Special Olympics held at Yale University in1995. Frank was extremely generous with his time and never hesitated to offer assistance to others. He was always waiting for the next family event or a good joke and was never without a kind word for those around him. Frank will be dearly missed by his three loving daughters, Pamela and her husband Tom Benoit of Wethersfield, Janice and her husband Bruce Streeter of Houston, TX and Debra Gozzo of Bloomfield; his four cherished grandchildren and their spouses, Chris and Tracy Benoit of Glastonbury, Carrie and Chris Young of Middletown, Allyson and Steve Drinnen of Americus, GA and Neil and Rachael Streeter of Orlando, FL and eight adored great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Mary Mazzarella of Plainville; two sisters-in-law and their husbands, Joyce and Mike Lenti and Joan and Aldo Mangiafico, all of Newington and several nieces and nephews and their families. He also leaves a great family of friends at Cedar Mountain Commons. Frank was predeceased by his brother, Joseph and his sister, Lucy Bordonaro. The family would like to thank the staff on 5N at St. Francis Hospital for the kindness and care he received while a patient there. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday at 10 a.m. at St. Mary's Church, 626 Willard Avenue, Newington. Everyone is asked to go directly to church. Burial with military honors will follow in Rose Hill Memorial Park, Rocky Hill. The family will receive relatives and friends on Sunday from 2-5 p.m. at the D'Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Blvd., Wethersfield. In lieu of flowers, donations in Frank's memory may be made to HARC, 900 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. For on-line expressions of sympathy to the family, please visit www.desopo.com.