On October 23, 1939, Catherine Rita Franceschiello and her larger than life personality came into this world in Queens, NY, born to Anthony and Mary Franceschiello. For the next 77 years, Catherine “kept it real”. She was beautiful, Italian, charismatic, funny, charming, boisterous, stylish, a true New Yorker, and always willing to tell you what she thought and what you should think. She filled a room and was blessed with the confidence that she was always right, and that you could benefit from hearing about it. She loved to ask people questions, to hear about their lives, and to discuss everything. There was rarely a quiet moment when she was around and, if there was, she would fill it with her wonderful singing voice which won her the solo at Newtown High School. At age 16, she met the love of her life, Joel Greenstein, a Soda Jerk at a Queens Ice Cream Parlor. Three years later, they defied their families, got married, and set off on a journey across the country to Boulder where they built a wonderful life together. It was a bold move and not without controversy as Catherine was Catholic and Joel was Jewish. While Joel attended CU Law School and became a prominent attorney, they raised five children: Guy Greenstein, Yvette (Ron) Sally, Jackie (Paul) Prendergast, Jason Greenstein and Natalie (Vince) Buckmelter. Catherine was tremendously proud of her children and her 15 grandchildren. She perfected the art of being loving, caring, and tough. She could be your biggest critic and your biggest fan, in the same conversation. She loved dancing, baking and reading and enjoyed taking classes through CU (she did the reading but skipped writing the papers), attending the World Affairs Conference, and watching Masterpiece Theater and the Financial News Network. She mastered the arts of knitting, gardening, and decorating and was a perfectionist in everything she did. Countless hours were spent with her holding court at the Big Table in the family house on the Hill where she lived since 1969 as everyone enjoyed her fantastic cooking and dreaded her post-dinner cigarettes. She lost Joel in 1984 and her son Jason in August 2016. She weathered those tragedies with remarkable strength and marched strongly onward. In addition to her many great friends she maintained close relationships with her siblings: Jimmy and Mike Franceschiello who pre-decease her, and especially with her sister Rose Ranieri of NYC with whom she spoke daily. Catherine had many great friends and will be missed immensely by her children and grandchildren, all of whom joined her for Christmas Eve festivities three days before she passed unexpectedly on December 27, 2016. She adored them, and they her. She loved attending the sporting, drama, musical and school events for her grandchildren Jake, Quintin, Joe, Bailey, Max, Francesca, Joel, Jack, Elizabeth, Vanessa, Sophia, August, Olivia, Naomi and Tommy and they loved having her cheer them on. The referees and opponents (and sometimes even teammates) might feel differently when she yelled from stands. She held nothing back. At the games or in life. She was fun. She was crazy. She had a great ride. She was a delight.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Catherine Rita Greenstein, please visit our
Heartfelt Sympathies Store.
