DEFRANCESCO, JOAN D.

Joan Doyle DeFrancesco of Branford died Friday, March 15, 2019 at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She was the beloved wife of the late Raymond W. DeFrancesco. Joan was born in Bridgeport November 21, 1932, daughter of the late Lawrence and Ethel Howard Doyle. She was a proud graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, where she received her Bachelors and Masters Degrees and was an active alumnus of SCSU. She was a teacher in Branford and Stratford for many years until retiring. Joan was a proud Irish woman who married an Italian and became a great Italian cook. She was an avid sports fan, attending countless games while her husband was coach and athletic director at SCSU. Joan and Ray enjoyed travelling with their college friends and enjoyed their winters in Naples, FL. Joan is survived by her children, Nancy Butler of Branford, Raymond (Caryl) DeFrancesco of Branford, Mary (Ernest) Glidden of Las Vegas, NV, William (Tamara) DeFrancesco of Albany, NY, and Christopher DeFrancesco of Branford; nine grandchildren, Todd and Heather DeFrancesco, Michael, Courtney and Alicia Butler, Katherine and Christine Glidden and Emma and Sophia DeFrancesco; and one great-grandchild, Bennett Doyle Butler. She was predeceased by her brother Larry Doyle and her sister Nancy Amundson. Her funeral will leave the W. S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home, 244 North Main Street, Branford, Monday morning at 10:00 for a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Mary Church of St. John Bosco Parish Branford, at 10:30. Burial will follow in St. Agnes Cemetery. Visiting hours will be Sunday from 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. For directions and online memorial, see www.wsclancy.com.