By Adam Swift
The town council is looking to honor the late Jerry DiFranza with a memorial dedication near the Pillar House.
DiFranza died at the age of 85 on April 28.
At last week’s meeting, the council unanimously approved sending a recommendation for the memorial to DiFranza to the town’s memorials committee.
“We lost Jerry DiFranza, who was Winthrop’s claim to fame in the White Cane Program … a little while back,” said Council President Jim Letterie. “Thank you to John Morgan for making the suggestion. I had a meeting with John and we discussed some potential things we could do for Mr. DiFranza and his memory.”
Letterie said DiFranza lived at the Pillar House for years and was instrumental in getting a crosswalk at Walden Street going from Ingleside Park across to the basketball courts.
“We had talked about different options, and what I’d like to recommend is that across the street from that crosswalk right near the Pillar House there is a little circular drive going in and there is a parking lot there,” said Letterie. “The thought is, which I am going to present to the memorials committee, is to have that called Jerry DiFranza Way. It’s not a street, it would be similar to what the schools did for Frankie Fabiano.”
Morgan said the memorial will be a honor in memory of his long-time friend.
“He was such a huge advocate for the blind and the hearing impaired and those with disabilities which will be extremely hard to replace,” said Morgan. “But at least his name will live on as long as I am here and his legacy will live on.”
DiFranza graduated from Jamaica Plain High School and received his Associates degree from Bunker Hill Community College. Following his graduation, DiFranza worked as a dietician at Boston City Hospital in the pediatric unit.
DiFranza wrote and worked to pass the Lazy Eye Blindness Bill in 1969, requiring all children to be tested for lazy eye blindness. As a result, children in Massachusetts are tested for lazy eye blindness, preventing vision challenges and saving sight for thousands of children each year.