Lorenzo, Frank 1927 - 2011

LORENZO, LEVICKAS, PERRINE, HOLCOMB, LARSON, FRANCKI, JACOBS

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/22/2024 at 16:07:22

Frank Lorenzo, 83, died Thursday, March 31, at the Evans Memorial Home following a year-long battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Born Dec. 3, 1927, in Chicago Heights, Ill., to Frank and Helen (Levickas) Lorenzo, Frank was raised in Kenosha, Wis., where he worked as a lifeguard on the beaches of Lake Michigan. He graduated from Kenosha (now Bradford) High School in 1946.

Frank attended Drake University in Des Moines on a four-year football scholarship. He was starting linebacker on the championship 1948 Drake Bulldogs football team, which won the 1949 Salad Bowl (precursor to the Fiesta Bowl) in Phoenix, Ariz. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education in 1951.

While at Drake, he met Marilynne Ann Perrine; they married at St. John's Catholic Church in Des Moines on April 21, 1951.

Upon graduation, Frank played for a semi-professional football team in Des Moines and received a bid to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, but before he could do so, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served as an MP and recreation director at Camp Gordon, Ga., and spent 1952 and 1953 as an honor guard to General Matthew Ridgeway at the central command for NATO military forces in Paris during the Korean War. While stationed at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, he also served as the base's head football coach.

After returning to the United States and receiving his honorable discharge from the Army, Frank accepted his first teaching and coaching job in Jewell. From there, he moved his family first to Rhodes and then to Lime Springs, where he became principal of the local high school. The Lorenzos settled in Cresco in 1963.

Frank taught physical education, health, and history at Crestwood Junior High School, and at Crestwood High School, he served as head varsity track coach and assistant varsity football coach. After stepping down from the varsity position, Frank coached eighth- and ninth-grade football, as well as eighth-grade basketball. During the summer months, he was the Cresco Parks and Recreation director, overseeing the morning arts and crafts and afternoon T-ball and baseball programs for younger children.

In May 1990, Frank retired from teaching to focus on his hobbies. An avid outdoorsman, Frank traveled annually with friends to Canada to fish and canoe. On the opening weekends of deer and pheasant season, he would walk the fields around Cresco with his hunting companions. Indoors, he would spend his time watching Turner Classic Movies, working crossword puzzles, and playing cards and dominos. Aside from his family, his greatest passion was golf. A member of the Cresco Country Club from 1963, Frank hit two holes in one during his lifetime of play, including one at the Telemark (Wis.) Country Club in 1995. He and Lynne would escape Cresco during the winter months to golf. After spending several years in Myrtle Beach, S.C., they ultimately decided on Corpus Christi, Texas, as their winter home.

Not content to fill his retirement solely with leisure, Frank was also committed to serving within the community. He was a member of the Cresco chapters of the American Legion and the Kiwanis Club. He continued to substitute teach at Crestwood Junior High for several years after retirement. He became a volunteer hospital escort at the Regional Health Services of Howard County, and he served for three years on the Evans Memorial Home board of directors. He was also an active parishioner at the Notre Dame Catholic Church, first as an usher, and later as a sacristan and parish council member.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and an infant daughter.

Frank is survived by his wife Lynne of Cresco; his brother Robert of Kenosha, Wis.; his four children: Rick Lorenzo of Cedar Rapids, Kathy Holcomb and her husband Greg of Cedar Falls, Sue Larson of Westby, Wis., and Steve Lorenzo of New York City; four grandchildren: Bryan Jacobs and his wife Michelle of Salt Lake City, Utah, Cassie Lorenzo Krancki and her husband Joe of London, England, and Erica and Helena (Ellie) Lorenzo of Cedar Rapids; and two great-grandchildren: Gavin and Aliya Jacobs of Salt Lake City, Utah. His family will welcome two additions this spring: Bryan and Michelle expect a child May 5, and Cassie and Joe anticipate the arrival of baby girl Kensal June 9.

Cemetery:
Burial will be in the Calvary Cemetery in Cresco, Iowa

Visitation:
Friends may call on Sunday, April 3, 2011 at the Lindstrom Funeral Home in Cresco, IA from 4-7:30 p.m. on Sunday, with a 7:30 p.m. scripture service. Friends may also call one hour prior to services at the church.

Service:
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, April 4, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. at Notre Dame Parish in Cresco, IA.

Source: Lindstrom Funeral Home database

Calvary Cresco Cemetery
 

Howard Obituaries maintained by Constance McDaniel Hall.
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