Obituary of Della Franceschini

Long time resident of Santa Cruz

Feb. 1, 1926 - Feb. 15, 2024

Adeline (Della) Franceschini passed away peacefully in Antioch CA on February 15, 2024 at age 98.  Della was born in Magadino Switzerland on February 1, 1926 to Maria and Abbondio Ranzoni. She immigrated with her parents to California at the age of 9 months. Della's parents eventually divorced and her mother married Steve Protti in 1931. Steve adopted Della in 1942. Della loved Steve and never thought of him as anyone other than her Dad. After immigrating from Switzerland, Della lived in Santa Cruz until 2020.

As a young girl, Della enjoyed playing the accordion and piano and had a lovely singing voice.  She helped Steve and Mary in their restaurant, the Villa Ribago on Laurel Street. Della sang and played the accordion on Saturday nights to the delight of the patrons who frequented the restaurant.

Della attended Holy Cross Elementary and High School. After graduation, she attended San Jose State College for one year and then transferred to and graduated from Heald's Business College in San Francisco.  She was employed at the Santa Cruz Lumber Company in their bookkeeping department and later worked as a bookkeeper for the City of Santa Cruz.

Della loved to dance. It was at a dance that Della met the love of her life, Tony Franceschini. Della and Tony were married on April 17, 1949 and enjoyed 68 happy years of married life together. Their life was always full of family, good friends, music, and travel.

Della created a beautiful home for Tony and their children. She also did the bookkeeping for Tony's farming operation, F. Franceschini and Son, Inc. During harvest season, Della could also be found standing next to Tony's work crew cleaning brussels sprouts from daybreak to sunset.

After Tony retired, they traveled extensively. Della enjoyed traveling but always said "there is no place like home". One of Della's favorite trips was when she took her two children to Switzerland in 1971 to show them where she was born.

In March 2020, Della moved to her daughter's home in Antioch. Eight months later she moved into The Villa at TreVista, a memory care facility that became her home for the next 3 plus years. Della was happy at TreVista. Staff members became like family and her daughter visited her daily. Her son, Rick, also frequently traveled to Antioch to visit.

Della was an excellent cook, enjoyed gardening and loved her home. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and aunt. Della was preceded in death by Tony, in 2017.  

She is survived by daughter Vicki (Brian) McCoy, son Rick Franceschini, grandchildren, Christopher (Jennifer) McCoy, Daniel (Kelly) McCoy, Laura (Christopher) Shipp, and 5 great grandchildren, Janea, Emma, Hailey, Madeline, and Owen. 

Family and friends are invited to honor Della's life on Monday, March 11, at 11 am, at Benito and Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel.

To light a candle and share your condolences with the family visit www.pacificgardenschapel.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice.