North Andover, Mass. —
She was born in Lawrence on March 4, 1933, the daughter of Philip and Carmela (DiDio) DiLavore. She grew up in Methuen, graduating in 1950 from Edward F. Searles High School. She worked for a number of years in the Methuen Town Hall, where she was a dedicated, hard-working clerk, and made lifelong friends.
On Sept. 30, 1956 she was married to David Rand in his hometown of North Andover. It was the beginning of a close, loving partnership that would last for more than 60 years. Fran and Dave soon moved to North Andover where they built a home and raised three children who became the center of their lives. The family skied together, ice skated on their backyard pond, built a barn and kept two horses, and looked forward each summer to two weeks in Ossipee, N.H., where they fished, swam, and waterskied.
Fran loved making a home for her family and being at home with her children. She was a warm, nurturing mother, a good listener, and a loyal friend to her Dale Street neighbors and many others. She never forgot to send birthday cards, wore fringed jeans when other moms wore house-dresses, and got tattoos with two of her grandchildren when they turned 18. She loved late-night phone calls with her beloved DiLavore and Padellaro cousins, playing the piano and listening to country music, watching Patriots and Red Sox games, and dancing in the kitchen with Dave.
She was a longtime member of the Order of Eastern Star, Fidelity Chapter 90; of bowling leagues in the Merrimack Valley, and was a dedicated player of lottery games, which she often won. She worked for decades as a vote counter and ward chair at the North Andover polls, for many years recording official vote tallies in town records in her graceful penmanship. She worked for 30 years as office manager for Dr. Diane Stoler of Boxford.
In addition to her husband, she leaves a daughter, Susan Rand Boutwell, and husband Mark, of Hartland, Vt.; two sons, Jeffrey Rand, and wife, Nancy, of Haverhill; and son Christopher Rand, of North Andover; four grandchildren, Ellen Rand Furnari, and husband JR Gunerman, of Cazenovia, N.Y.; William Rand Furnari, and wife Shannon Furnari, of Fairfax, Vt.; Michael K. Rand, and wife Erin E. Rand, of Enfield, Conn.; and Kelley Rand of New York City; one brother, Philip DiLavore Jr. and his wife, Evelyn DiLavore, of Terre Haute, Ind.; five nieces and two nephews; and her dear cousins.
She was predeceased by her son-in-law, Anthony “Tee” Furnari, in 2001.
Burial was in the Ridgewood Cemetery in North Andover following funeral services on Feb. 28.