Juvenile Delinquent, Champion Cha- Cha dancer, award-winning actor in High School, Ace Basketball Player, Marathon Runner (Completing over 25 Marathons and 515 road races), Jokester, Provider, Type A Personality, Loyal Employee of 30 years to Florida Power and Light (rising from Meter Reader to Marketing Executive), Father.
These are just some of the varied descriptions of my Dad.
He was a unique Cat, a true Leo, gifted with talents and haunted by demons.
Fran was dealt a rough hand right from the start. Born in 1939 to basically what would be the equivalent to today's South Beach party kids, my grandparents, though both gorgeous, were both ill equipped and irresponsible to raise a child, so they split up, my grandfather to go on to a semi pro boxing career and my Grandmother to join the Air Force at the dawn of WW2. And Fran? Well Fran got dumped from one grandparent to the next, from one aunt and uncle to the next. Never really knowing "Home", never knowing "Family" and heading straight for Juvenile, a life of crime, and not a happy ending.
But
WAIT... This is no Sob story. Quite the Contrary!!! For in those teen
years, Fran found Something...Three things that would change his life
forever and help to create mine! His Faith, Dancing ...and Rock N
Roll!!
Raised Catholic, Fran had a strong Faith, but it kicked into gear in his teens and would be a rock for him throughout his life, even saying his nightly prayers right up to his passing. LOL, But Dancing and Rock n Roll??? This was the DEVIL'S domain!!! And Fran took to them with fervor. Learning to dance from his Uncle Dom and Aunt Willetta, he became a ladies' choice on the Dance floor. and was fueled by the new sounds of this kid from Tupelo with the weird name and wild moves! In fact, my Dad saw this Kid, Elvis, the first time he came to Miami in 1956 in what is now the Gusman Theater.
In 1955, my Dad was transported from the tough streets of Chicago to the rural backwater of 1950s Homestead! CULTURE SHOCK for him AND his new school mates at South Dade High. But his energy, charisma, and dance moves won over this new crowd, many of whom became lifelong friends.
Upon graduation and without funds for College, Fran enlisted into The Air Force and was stationed in the far away post of Morocco. Morroco??? What the hell was he doing there?? Well apart from serving his country, he was Dancing his ass off at the USO!!! And Digging the sounds of James Brown, Muddy Waters and other Blues greats. All the girls wanted him on their dance card, but it was one French Brunette that really caught his heart. A phenomenal dancer herself with an odd name, Ghislaine...my Mother.
The fell in love, they Married, they moved back to the States, they had me. Times were tough, he bounced through several jobs, but always worked his tail off to provide. Finally landing with FPL for what would be an astonishing 30 year career, from entry level to executive status.
When he was 38, my Dad took up running and would run and run and run, He would run from his impoverished background and run to a great career, he would run from neglect and run to a family that loved him, he would run from the negativity of what he could have been, to what he had become, A Good Man. He ran. He ... Ran. He ran 515 road races, 25 of which were Marathons, some of which were grueling. New York, Big Sur, Athens, Twin Cities, Miami, Washington DC, Chicago. Disney, Honolulu. Just some of his completed runs. A testament to strength, a testament to Will.
Life moves on, ups and downs, my folks split up, but my Dad was always honorable to my Mom. He Loved his Daughter-in-Law, and was so proud of his Grandson and the legacy of his Name.
And with no doubt in the World, he Loved...ME!! He showed me, he told me, he hugged me, he kissed me, he played with me, and gave me his greatest gift...His time. Even Up until his very last days. And yes, I am writing this with tears in my eyes.
But this is not a sob story, this is a Celebration of Francis J Marinelli, Mr. Mars...Fran The Man. My Dad ...Your Friend.
There is so much more I could write, but I would love for you to add YOUR thoughts and Memories in the comments section here and throughout this Blog. Be sure to click on the tabs at the top of the page with great photos from The Early Years, Style, Running, Family, and Friends.
Thank you
Mykael Marinelli
Please add your Comments and memories of Fran here!
ReplyDeleteDear Michael I am so sorry for your lost, Fran was a very good friend of mine starting in Casablanca Morocco and was John l Davis best friend there and wasin best man at our wedding, Fran and I kept in touch I saw October 2013 nad we had a good visit I wish I could have spoke with him, I have a very good memories of Fran
Deletealthough I never had the honor or privilege your loving tribute makes me wish that I had. This is absolutely brilliant, Mykael !
ReplyDeleteThis is beautifully written Mykael! My favorite memory of your dad is him convincing me to eat lychees...makes me smile every time I think of it! ❤️
ReplyDeleteYour tribute to your father is absolutely beautiful. I'm teary eyed. It's so nice to be able to get a glimpse inside of him and you.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I did not meet & know your Dad until our last year in H.S., I remember him as one nice & fun guy. He was one of the most liked and loved Seniors at South Dade. What a great tribute to him! Don Alexander
ReplyDeleteFran was a great guy. We all loved him at South Dade. I always looked forward to his Christmas Cards. Sometimes I got pictures & then again he would put confetti in the card that would fall all over the place when I opened the card. I wondered why I didn't get a card back this year. Peace be with you my friend. You will be missed.
ReplyDeleteSandy Shaw
"James H. "Big Jim" Gillis, aka "Speedo" (to Fran). We shared August 5 (Fran was a year older. We did things like climbing the Richmond Blimp Base Hanger Tower and painting "Class of '58) on one of them. We are both in FSU AFROTC DRILL TEAM! We both like Jack Kokerak Beat Poetry. Last saw him at a Homestead ReUnion showing off his new teeth done by classmate Sam Porco. I took apart his Alstate Motor Scotter (he almost Panic seeing it scattered on our driveway) I got it back together and it ran like a champ again. We worked as common laborers at Homestead Air Force Base building housing on base! He was, and to me, still is one of the Great Ones!!!"
ReplyDeleteAt FSU he talked me into "putting on the gloves" with him. I am not much of a boxer although I did manage to get in a very lucky punch or two. We rang each others' chimes a few times and finally stopped from sheer exhaustion!!!!
I knew his favorite stop near Florida City as a FPL Meter Reader!!!
His favorite ditty: "Get a little, little bit!" Missing him greatly, just glad there is no more pain. He was a true friend.
James H. Gillis, Lt. Col., USAF JAGDR (Retired)
When we were seniors at SDHS Fran was in a play. There was a young lady, that at the time might have been descibed as earthy, or somewhat worldly. Anyway, the play opened with Fran lieing on his back on a cot or small bed in a pair of really tight red longhandles. In the minutes before the opening curtain was pulled, above mentioned young lady, had rubbed, carressed, touched, Fran all over. (the key word here is "all".) The curtain opens, Fran is on the cot or bed with his pole at full attention. The auditorium erupted in one large hilarious laugh. And like so many other things, he just took it in stride and laughed with us also. I had spoken with him a few times a year for the past few years. Always a wonderful uplifting conversation. He was truly one of a kind, was loved and will be sorely missed
ReplyDeleteRosko
• MAN COULD FRAN DANCE—he brought with him many advanced dance steps from New York. At first those steps were too advanced for us; however, as we saw them on ‘Bandstand’ and ‘Ed Sullivan’ and other TV shows, we started adopting them.
ReplyDelete• A memory of Fran would not be complete without a tragedy. During basketball season, the varsity would wait at the Gym’s back door for the JV team to finish their game…WAITING & IDLENESS ARE NOT GOOD FOR TEENAGERS One night, for entertainment as we waited at the door, we started throwing basketballs at the wall. This showing-off progressed to seeing how close we could come to the windows. On Fran’s first throw he came closest…he broke the window. As I recall, our star player, Jimmy Simmons, took the blame (anyone else would have been kicked off the team). We would often kid Fran with comments like: “Fran, you could walk through a rose garden and come out smelling like S _ _ _!”
• Another early memory was trying to get Fran to say “Ya’ll” the Southern way…he never got it. It would always come out as some contamination of “You-all” or “You-Ns-All” or “Youse-All”. We would laugh until we were in tears and our ribs hurt during these lessons��
• Fast forward to our 30th reunion on The Keys…Fran was a hit with my kids. He would come to our room and ask Tim & Susan to come out to skateboard, listen to cool music, and play…SOME PEOPLE NEVER CHANGE.
• My Favorite Fran Fiasco (this is the way I remember Fran telling the story): “As Hurricane Andrew approached the Florida Coast, my ex-wife gave me a distressed call saying: ‘You’ve got to get off Miami Beach! Come down to Homestead and get away from the coast and all of the danger!’ I hustled to Homestead just in time spend 12-plus hours of terror in the eye-of-the-storm…I should have stayed on the beach where it was calm.”
Paul Schowalter, Hickory, NC