Francis J. Coll Jr., 91
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Francis Joseph Coll Jr., 91, of Scott Hill Road died peacefully of natural causes on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, at his home.
Born in Danbury, Conn., on June 16, 1924, the eldest of six children of Francis J. Coll Sr. and Elizabeth Howard Coll, he grew up in Washington, Conn., in rural Litchfield County.
A Marine Corps veteran of World War II, he served by enlisting and finished his tour of duty as staff sergeant in 1946, never forgetting his rifle number. Courtesy of the GI bill (which he referred to as "the best piece of legislation ever written"), he attended the University of Connecticut and graduated in 1952. He continued his graduate studies at the Sorbonne University in Paris, where he lived for two years and learned to speak like a Parisian.
Mr. Coll taught high school for more than 40 years, beginning his career at Peekskill (N.Y.) Military Academy. He was a founding faculty member of Mount Greylock Regional High School in 1961, and was coordinator of the Foreign Language Department and a regular performer in the faculty plays. He taught French and Spanish to generations of students, elegantly dressed in a tie and jacket until he retired in 1995.
He was proud of his Irish heritage, and was the grandson of immigrant Edward Coll from County Limerick. He was a first cousin of Eamon de Valera, former president of Ireland, with whom he had an affectionate relationship. During the 1950s, De Valera appointed him liaison to the Irish-American press for the Irish government.
He was an avid gardener and amateur landscape designer. A talented linguist, craftsman and artist, he was a Renaissance man. He turned a summer cottage in South Williamstown into a lifelong home surrounded by beautiful gardens. He was a silversmith, jewelry designer, and gifted painter and print-maker, exhibiting work in 1999 in a Soho gallery in New York.
A lifelong Catholic, he was a devout communicant of the Parish of Sts. Patrick & Raphael.
He leaves his devoted wife of 54 years, the former Marilyn Ward; his brother, Edward Coll of Hawaii; dozens of nieces and nephews; his loving children, Kathleen Marshall and Haryl Pascal, Thomas Marshall, Delia Marshall and Tom Wallace, Kevin and Doreen Coll, and was a loving and dedicated "Papa" to his six grandchildren Nora, Oona and Neve Wallace, and Sean, Daria and Chloe Coll.
FUNERAL NOTICE — A Memorial Mass for Mr. Coll will be held Saturday, Oct. 31, at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick's Church.
Calling hours will be Friday, Oct. 30, from 5:30 to 9 at Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals,West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams. The family would like to extend heartfelt gratitude to the wonderful staff at Gentiva Home Services, At Home TLC and HospiceCare in the Berkshires. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to HospiceCare in the Berkshires through the funeral home.