George Paul DeFrancesco, lifelong teacher, musician, artist and coach passed away on July 17, 2016, at the age of 75.
He was born April 19, 1941, and was raised in Steger, Ill., and attended Bloom Township High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in art education from Northern Illinois University in 1963, and a master’s degree in art from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1978. He began his teaching career at Steger Central Junior High in Steger, Ill., and then taught at Delavan-Darien High School in Delavan for 14 years. In 1980, he began teaching at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. He retired from teaching in 2004, after 24 years at Gorman.
He is survived by his wife, Susan Miller-DeFrancesco; three children from his first marriage, Gina DeFrancesco, of Englewood, Fla., Giulianne (Jeff) Krug, of Columbia, Mo., and Gion DeFrancesco, of Oxford, Ohio; seven grandchildren; and four great grandchildren.
A celebration of George’s life will be Sept. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Paiute Golf Resort, 10325 Nu-Wav Kaiv Blvd., Las Vegas. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the George DeFrancesco Memorial Scholarship Fund to assist a first-generation college-bound students pursue a degree in visual art or music. For more details, visit georgedememorial.org.
