FRANK ANTHONY SALVIDIO, JR

Frank A. Salvidio, Jr., a retired English professor, translator, and award-winning poet, died on July 8, 2024 at home surrounded by those who loved him. Frank went by Sal to most, Sire to some, Junior to his family, and Papa to his one and only child. Sal was born in Shrewsbury, MA on January 24, 1933, the fourth of five children to the late Frank (Francesco) and Carrie (Carmella Riggieri) Salvidio, the children of Italian immigrants. In the mid-1930’s, when a contract was put out on Frank Sr., a former bootlegger, the family moved to Norwich, CT, where Sal attended local schools until his senior year of high school when he abruptly quit. When Sal was 18, he joined the 103rd AC&W Squadron of the CT Air National Guard, which had already been alerted for federalization; and during the Korean War served with the 103rd stateside, and then with the newly-formed 932nd AC&W Squadron in Iceland, and claimed to be cold for the rest of his life.

A month after being mustered out as a S/Sgt, Sal enrolled in Columbia University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. He went on to get a Master’s in Education from American International College, and another Master’s and subsequent Ph.D in English from the University of Connecticut. Sal taught at Chicopee High School, UCONN’s Waterbury campus, and then Westfield State College (now University) where he remained until he retired in 1996 as an Associate Professor of English.  Always a lover of sports, while attending AIC, Sal served as one of their football scouts and the school’s Sports Information Director; he later scouted for Holy Cross, and occasionally the Montreal Alouettes.

In 1974, Sal married Nanci (Mahoney) and had one child, Rachel (Deery). The marriage ended in 1997 but the two remained close friends, often vacationing together as a family.  Nanci opened her home and heart to Sal in the final three months of his life where he thrived, laughed, smiled, and was happy.

Sal referred to himself as “a poet more often praised than purchased,” but many of his sonnets and poems appeared in various journals and anthologies and won several awards and honorable mentions. He authored the following books: Between Troy and Florence (1992); a translation of The Vita Nuova of Dante Alighieri (1996); Sappho Says (1999); a translation of Dante, DANTE: INFERNO (2007); Inventing Love: A Sonnet Sequence (2010); and Arthuriad (2019). Sal had two poems published just months before his death in The Lyric. He was most proud to see “Iliakos” in print, which he said was “the best thing I ever wrote.”

Sal was frugal when it came to buying things for himself.  He once commented about the price of something, “I wouldn’t pay that for tickets to the Last Supper with the original cast!” However, he was generous when it came to others.  He loved buying rounds at The Scoreboard, treating friends and family to dinner (complete with a tip that was always more than enough), and regularly donated to a myriad of charities throughout his life. Sal was one-of-a-kind, but was also the clichéd absent-minded professor.  In what became an inside family joke, he made pumpkin bread but forgot the pumpkin – twice. Sal loved the ocean and vacationed in Maine every summer for decades where he enjoyed body surfing and doing crossword puzzles on the beach (He rode his last wave at 86!).  Sal’s friends meant the world to him and he was fiercely loyal to them all.  He never forgot to send a card for any occasion and made it a point to visit people if they were in the hospital. Sal could tell a joke or story like none other and always had a captive audience. He was hysterically funny. He was a man of his word. He was honest. He did the right thing simply because it was the right thing to do.  He was the best.

Sal was predeceased by his parents and three siblings: Rita Woodhull, Robert Salvidio, Sr., and Gloria Gates.  He is survived by one sister, Rosemarie Cathcart.  Sal leaves behind his beloved daughter with whom he shared an unbreakable bond, Rachel Deery, son-in-law, Dan Deery, and former wife turned lifelong friend, Nanci Salvidio. In Sal’s own words, he leaves “his ‘son’ Michael, those few close friends who know well who they are, his fellow roisterers at The Scoreboard, and bartenders and waitresses not a few. Ave atque vale.”

A private funeral with Military Honors will be held at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam with a celebration of life planned at a later date.  Donations in Sal’s name can be sent to Baystate Hospice.  You can also honor his memory by reading something you love, gathering with friends, and simply enjoying life.

End of life arrangements entrusted to Avalon Life Celebration Center, 691 College Hwy, Southwick, MA 01077  To express condolences please visit Sal’s memorial page at www.avaloncelebrations.com

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