Born Feb. 7, 1942
Springfield, Vermont
Died Aug. 9, 2025
Francis Walter Kazak was born in Springfield Vermont on February 7, 1942.
As the son of Veronica Janowski and Walter Kazak, he grew up in Springfield and Cavendish in the heyday of the machine tool industry where the extended family of Polish Russian heritage were hard working individuals as farmers, manufacturing plant workers, and grocery store owners. His maternal grandfather worked in the mill at night and tended his small farm and cows in Cavendish during the days.
Fran was proud of the Springfield community where he grew up and sang the praises of all the resources that they had for young people. A fond memory he had as a young boy was of walking down the steep hill from his home to the center of town to drop off the bill payments for his parents and pick up 2 loaves of Polish bread from the local bakery. He would carry them back home as fast as he could, so they were still warm for butter. During his high school years, he especially enjoyed the block dances and working as the rope tow attendant at the local ski hill. He was the designated “weeder” in his father’s extensive garden where they would grow vegetables by the basketful, bring them home where he, his sisters, and mother would prepare them for freezing. He also helped his grandfather in Cavendish haying and tending to the cows.
In high school, he attended the co-op program at Springfield High School with several weeks in academic studies followed by a set of weeks in the in the manufacturing plants to learn the skills and tools of all the trades involved. The plan was for him to be prepared to transition into a good job after finishing high school. Fortunately, his high school teachers, along with an observant guidance counselor recognized Fran’s academic ability and told his parents that, “this young man should be going on to college”. Following that advice, Fran went off to Boston and attended Franklin Institute on an ASTME scholarship to finish up requirements in order to apply for college. He attended UVM School of engineering and when he graduated was immediately recruited by IBM. There he thrived in the demands of his job and the freedom to use his creative mind for new innovations in the chip manufacturing industry.
At IBM, he met Lorraine Elizabeth Hurst, the love of his life, and introduced her to his extensive family of aunts, uncles, and a multitude of cousins. Lori and Fran married on June 20, 1969. Together they built a home in Westford, VT and welcomed their son Christopher Michael in 1979, and then Corey Joseph in 1982. Later they relocated to Essex Junction. As a devoted father, Fran involved the boys in outdoor activities, the cub scouts, took them to the mountains for family skiing, and was there for them as they pursued their passions for playing soccer and running cross country and track. For many summers he and Lori and the boys would join with other family members on the coast of Maine for camping or renting a big beach house for lots of beach time, lobsters, and summer fun. Fran’s large extended family was his social network and support system for his whole life, and he maintained close connections with his cousins.
As the turns of life go, Fran and Lori entered into a 13-year battle when she was diagnosed with cancer. He was with her every step of the way on this marathon trying everything to beat the odds that ended in the summer of 2003 when she passed away. He continued his devotion to Chris and Corey as they journeyed through college, spent time living and working in Boston, establishing their careers and moved on to finding and marrying their wonderful spouses. Fran especially enjoyed traveling to Boston to go to the Red Sox games with them. He was so proud of them and delighted in having daughter in-laws and three wonderful grandchildren.
Fran passed away on August 9, 2025, and is survived by his sons Chris and his wife Devon, Lorraine (6) and Nolan (3), and Corey, his wife Natalie and their 4-month-old son, Colton, a sister, Janice and two nieces in NY, a sister, Jean and husband Bob and a niece in North Carolina, and a nephew in Maine and his life partner of 20 years, Maura O’Brien.
Fran and Maura, also of Westford, reacquainted in 2006 and soon it became clear that they would become partners for life. Fran often said that he was blessed with the two greatest loves of his life. Fran and Maura recognized the passion in the love each had for their own families and Fran welcomed Maura’s son, Benjamin, and daughter, Anna along with her husband Bill and daughters Elsa (14) and Alice (11), into his circle of love. He delighted in attending the girls jazz band nights, dance performances and the McCloy and OBrien family gatherings. Fran and Maura had a mutual love for the outdoors, jazz music and music of the 50’s 60’s. They relished every opportunity to dance including in the kitchen on Saturday nights to the “My Place” music on VPR. Together, they loved touring the art galleries in Vermont, Cape Cod, Boston, DC and NYC , historical museums, and especially loved musical theater productions. They shared similar reading interests especially in history and often had long discussions on issues related to social justice. They loved cooking together, especially finding great recipes and planning gourmet meals with each other. For many years they gardened together on the ‘lower four’ as Fran called the property where they had garden beds and boxes. Together, they took the ‘trip of the lifetime’ and spent a month in Africa touring Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Johannesburg, and South Africa. They continued to revisit the trip in the photos and memories they shared.
Fran’s passions and pastimes were reading, music, and Radio Controlled (RC) planes. He was a voracious reader. Every day he consumed several national and local news publications. There were always at least two books on his chair side table; one with a historical focus, and another, an action-packed thriller. In recent years, he discovered enjoyment in reading poetry. As a lover of music, he catalogued and downloaded his favorite music on to all his devices. For many years, he focused on building, fine tuning, and flying RC planes; mostly the fine-tuning and creating adaptations for a better flight. He did everything with scientific precision from creating the right compost for the garden, to designing a new gate for the deck for the grandchildren, experimenting with weights and measures in his passion for making bread, finding the best lens for his many cameras, and researching and practicing restoration and storage of family photos. He loved watching the birds and came up with all sorts of technological improvement to bird feeders to attract them, especially the Baltimore Orioles and hummingbirds this past Spring. Fran was a truly wonderful man who had a kind word for everyone he met and genuinely believed it when he would say, “Life is Good”!
Many heartfelt thanks go to the extraordinary and compassionate nurses and doctors at UVM Medical Center Cardiac Care unit. In keeping with his wishes “to get involved and contribute to civic and charitable projects”, Fran recently became a proud member of and volunteered for the Essex Rotary Club. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation the Rotary Club Charities of Essex VT P.O. Box 8466 Essex, VT 05452.
