In the spring, before his final months of college at Clarion University, Fran Sirianni prepared to have the conversation that would change his life forever.
Fran’s father, Frank, was a worker. A man of the people. A World War II veteran. A second-generation American whose parents trekked here from Calabria, on the southern tier of the boot in Italy. He owned a women’s clothing store on the main drag in their hometown of Kane, Pa., selling pieces that he’d have his daughter wear to school, a way of modeling them in an attempt to drive in customers. The town, Fran said, would remind you of Bedford Falls in the winter.
Frank wasn’t much of an athlete. He went to one football practice, saw how hard everyone was smashing into each other and hightailed it home. Fran was different. He would letter in football and track for the Golden Eagles. He picked off so many passes—15—that the school put him in its Hall of Fame. Oh, and he also punted, finished third in the PSAC 400 hurdles and second in the 4x100.
