Joseph Alfred LaFrance passed away on Jan. 15, 2025.
Born on June 5, 1934, he was the son of Joseph “Ducky” and Ruth LaFrance, of West Haven, CT.
He was a graduate of West Haven High School Class of 1952, where he excelled in football, baseball, and basketball. Joseph was the recipient of the All-Around Sports Award his senior year.
He went on to play baseball for Deerfield Academy on scholarship. He was also offered a full-ride scholarship to play baseball for NYU, however, he ultimately accepted a scholarship to play football and baseball for UCONN. He played for UCONN two years before being recruited to play football for the Marines as a tight end, playing against many All-American professional football players, a goal he accomplished and was very proud of.
Joseph worked several jobs, including working for the United States Postal Office and the New Haven Pipeline, as Commander of the New Haven Marine Corps League, where he developed “The Young Marines” program, as house parents at Milton Hershey School in the mid-1960s, as Director of Discipline at Becket Academy in East Haddam, CT, and as Administrator in Special Education at the Orphanage of Wheeling, West Virginia, where he assisted in developing a new facility and facility of Special Education. At this time, he completed his master’s degree at West Virginia University.
He and his wife were contacted for an administration job at Milton Hershey School but ultimately opted to return to the school as house parents, where they remained employed until retirement.
Throughout the years, sports remained a strong passion. He also began painting at 40 years old, excelling in watercolors and oil paints, where he had several commissioned works, including Hotel Hershey. He ran the TERRAP program for the states of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Florida, specializing in Psychotherapy for Panic, Anxiety, and Phobias, which became an integral part of his life.
He is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Joan Eleanor LaFrance; their children, Joseph LaFrance, and wife, Alison, Paul LaFrance, and wife, Crystal, and Michelle Manjerovic, and husband, Gregg; grandchildren, Amy, Michael, Courtney, Riley, Noah, Tyler, and Madeline Jo; and great-grandchildren, Ava, Christian, Abella-Rose, Levi, and Isaac.
Joseph is preceded in death by his parents; two sisters; and his famous great-great-uncle, Charles Sherwood Stratten “Tom Thumb.”
A funeral service will be held on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. from Kreamer Funeral Home and Crematory Inc., 618 E. Main St., Annville. Interment will be in Hershey Cemetery with military honors. There will be a visitation from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to The Four Diamonds, P.O. Box 852, Hershey, PA 17033, or The Humane Society of Lebanon County, 150 N. Ramona Road, Myerstown, PA 17067.
