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Obituaries

Ben Francia loved Alice, his family and his work

By Sandy Sims

Ben Francia's life was a testament to long-term commitments, hard work, deep loyalty and a strong marriage. He died peacefully at his Willow Glen home on Aug. 26, just short of his 85th birthday and 65th anniversary.

He came from strong Italian roots. His father, Rocco Francia, emigrated from Italy at age 16 and later bought the San Jose Foundry, the major supplier of machinery for the canning industry and for many regional businesses, including the city of San Jose.

"The manhole covers you drive over in San Jose pretty much came from the Foundry," says Francia's oldest son, Richard.

Francia learned to be a machinist at the Foundry the old-fashioned way. "No one sat down and taught you," Richard says. "You watched."

The precision and competence of the work at the Foundry is well known in the community. Bob Pera, co-owner with his brothers of Roma Bakery, says the Foundry made their machines.

"Ben would do whatever it took to make things work for us," Pera says.

Francia took over the Foundry when his father died in 1971.

"Ben was a hard task master," Alice says, "but the people who worked for him loved him."

At his vigil, the priest compared Francia to a piece of candy with a hard outer shell and soft inside.

Richard says, as a father, the soft side of Francia came out.

"I'm not sure he ever said no to me," Richard says, "but he always gave his opinion. Then he'd say, 'Now it's your decision.' "

In 1994, Francia turned the Foundry over to Richard.

Francia and his twin sister, Rose, were born Sept. 25, 1921, at his parents' San Jose home on Willis Avenue. His brother, Joseph, came along two years later. Rose died tragically at the age of 21 when a nail she accidentally swallowed pierced her lung. "That was the only time I ever saw Ben cry," his wife Alice says.

Francia attended the former St. Joseph Elementary School and Bellarmine College Preparatory, where he was a star basketball player. He spent two years at Santa Clara University.

In 1940, Francia met Alice Taylor on a blind date. She was attending Sullivan Beauty College.

"It was love at first sight for both of us," Alice says.

But Francia's parents did not want him to marry Alice.

"I had three strikes against me," Alice says. "I wasn't Italian. I wasn't Catholic, and my mother was divorced--more than once."

That didn't stop Francia.

He was 18 when he took 17-year-old Alice off to Reno in 1941 and married her. They kept the marriage a secret, and Alice continued to live in Watsonville with her mother. When Alice got pregnant, Francia went to his parents. To Alice's surprise, his family drove to Watsonville and brought her back to San Jose to live. Alice says she was completely accepted into his family.

"They taught me a new way to live," she says, referring to her own mother's marital difficulties.

The couple built their Willow Glen home in 1947 and never moved. They had three sons. Francia was one of the founders of the Willow Glen Little League and a member of the Elks.

In 1997 Francia received last rites after complications from quadruple bypass surgery. But he recovered and battled medical problems for nearly 10 years, always bouncing back, to the amazement of his family.

During those last 10 years, his wife says, he told her over and over how much he loved her.

"He took care of me for 55 years," she says. "It was my turn to take care of him."

Along with Alice, Francia is survived by his sons Richard and his wife Sharon; Danny and his wife Debbie, David and his wife Leonette; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.