Frances LoCascio

Frances Louise LoCascio (nee Fontana) fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church, passed away peacefully with family and close friend by her side on Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at the age of 89.

Frances was the loving wife for 60 years of Giovanni "John" LoCascio; cherished mother of John (Pamela) LoCascio and Christine (Tom Jennings) LoCascio; devoted grandmother of Garrison LoCascio, Sofia Jennings, Madeline LoCascio, Nina Jennings, and Adam Jennings; dear sister of Joanne Fontana, Paul "Jerry" Fontana, Joseph Fontana, and the late Marie Dean, Helen (the late Gary) Gacevich and John (Rita) Fontana; dear sister-in-law of Grace (the late Bill) Hendricks, Salvatore (Linda) LoCascio, Rose (the late Dan) Janowiak; and the late Alex LoCascio; many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and dear friend of Joan Matt and Judy Hunter, and many others.

A visitation will take place on Friday, December 27, 2024 from 9-10am, followed by a Funeral Mass at 10am at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, 6303 Nottingham Ave., St. Louis MO 63109. Interment to follow at Resurrection Cemetery, 6901 Mackenzie Road, Saint Louis MO 63123.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Frances' memory to the American Cancer Society or to de Greeff Hospice House via Mercy Health Foundation would be greatly appreciated by her family.

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MOM

A REMEMBRANCE

Dec 27, 2024

Thank you all for joining us today to celebrate my mom’s life and her impact on us. In particular I’d like to celebrate her kindness, thoughtfulness, her positivity, her generosity, and her belief and faith in others.

Frances Fontana was born in 1935 and lived outside of a small town in Southern Illinois, Pinckneyville. She was one of seven children and grew around corn fields and coal mines.

My grandfather, Rudolfo, worked in the mines. So, she was, like the late country singer Loretta Lynn -- a coalminer’s daughter. She even attended a one-room school house for a time - just like the author Laura Ingalls Wilder from “Little House on a Prairie”

It was a different time. She was born during the depression. A time when people worked hard and had to sacrifice. A time when it was common for people to grow and make their own food - including canning and storing things for the winter. A time when people looked out for one another.

Putting others’ needs before oneself. It wasn’t a saying or phrase that “my mom always said” but when I reflect on her impact I believe that is how my mom lived her life.

My mom didn’t focus on the past, the way things used to be, or any missed opportunities. She wasn’t one to say “in my day” or to have any regrets. But occasionally I would hear stories as she chatted with her 3 sisters. Their house was across the road from the railroad tracks, and I remember her speaking about how men “down on their luck” would show up at their door and how her mom - my grandmother - was always able to find some food to give them.

My uncle Jerry recently told me about how in 1957 my mom used a big part of her paycheck to buy him -- her younger brother -- a bicycle.

Those values -- helping others in need, even in seemingly small ways guided my mom as she navigated her way from her small town - Pinckneyville, to St. Louis where she started work as a secretary for lawyers and then later, in Chicago, where she met and married my dad - Giovanni- in June 1964, later moving back to St. Louis in 1969. (If you are doing the math, my mom and dad just surpassed their 60th wedding anniversary.)

In St. Louis, she worked as a secretary in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital. She made friends there that she still has today, and certainly left her mark there. Her boss for 13 years, Dr. Dan Granoff, very recently told me a story that I’d like to share with you.

You have to consider that this was in the early 1980s...there were no computers. To correct small errors, you used "white-out", which came in a small bottle that looked like nail polish, and then you retyped the word or sentence. To this, add the fact that he could, on occasion, be somewhat indecisive — so on the various documents and slides there would always be a few changes. Well... maybe more than a few... But despite all these changes, my mom was unerringly patient, and never complained.

“Shortly after he arrived in St. Louis, writing a lengthy memo to the Chair of Pediatrics -- Dr. Dodge. He had reviewed and signed it when she brought it back pointing out a small error, which to correct required retyping the entire page. He said to send the memo "as is."

However, an hour later, my mom placed a retyped corrected version on his desk to sign. She had redone the whole thing, without being asked to do so.

Of course - this story shows her strong work ethic and dedication to extremely high standards -- something I know she instilled in me and my brother John.

But, it actually tells us a more important thing about my mom. That is, how she often put others needs before her own.

I have witnessed this throughout her life in little and big ways.

Some of the little ways - She would often bring in her famous cheesecake, or bounty from her garden that she loved to tend to (fresh basil, pesto, eggplant and her also famous Sicilian caponata), she would buy things for her friends when they needed things for their family when money was tight for them. She would give donations to organizations she cared about, or save magazines that she would later give to nursing homes to give them something to read. She did a lot of these little things just because she felt it was the right thing to do.

She stayed in that position at Children’s Hospital for over 20 years, not only because she was loyal, but also because she recognized the opportunities doing so would provide for my brother John and me. My mom did not have the opportunity to go to college, but she certainly valued and understood the opportunities education provides.

You see in those days, Washington University provided free college tuition for children of employees who had been working there for a certain number of years. She made a choice -- a sacrifice -- to stay in that position for all those years to ensure she could give my brother and me the chance to go to college. Although tuition costs then was not as crazy as it is now, it is certainly not something we could afford. Because of her wise choice - she made it possible for John and me to be the first generation in our family to go to college. Without that, I wouldn’t have been able to go on to graduate school.

Mom was always positive and looking forward to the future, even despite the challenges she faced with her own health in recent years.

Maybe that’s why she played so much bingo over the years. She always thought “why not me?” And of course, sometimes they did win . I think it was more about seeing their friends and socializing than actually winning any money.

That attitude of “why not me?” left an imprint on me, especially as I have pursued a career of my own.

My mom told me a story once of a woman she knew who was one of a few women to attend and graduate from law school back in the late 50s/early 60s, and graduated at the top of her class. Yet, she could only get a job as a legal secretary.

My mom did not tell me this story to complain about the lack of opportunity for herself or her peers. Of course, looking at this through today’s lens the injustice is clear. But I think she told me this as a way to tell me what was possible for my generation. While we were certainly not rich, looking back, we never wanted for anything. I think that is mainly due to that fact she never focused on what we don’t have or what we were missing, but all the things we have to be grateful for.

The last few years were challenging, for sure, for my mom. Of course for a great cook like my mom, having to deal with the bland food at their assisted living was not easy! It was a sore spot for sure. Leaving their house on Sutherland Ave last year was hard too, as she loved to decorate for all of the holidays and enjoy the many little things in life. But regardless, she was always looking to the future, staying positive and never throwing in the towel, even when she got her cancer diagnosis just 2 months ago.

So, as I look to this next chapter without my mom I will take what she taught me and try my best to pass those lessons on to my children through my words and actions. She was a proud mother of me and my brother, of course a super proud grandmother or “nonna” to her 5 grandchildren. Their “nonna” was always positive, always looking to future, always kind, always thankful, always encouraging, always supportive, always there for her family and friends, always putting others before herself and trying to think of others’ needs.

If I can do that, I will be honoring her memory.