Grandma Martha was born in Huntingville, Québec. The third of 6 children to Francisco Frangapini and Margeret Burnham. She was born in her parents bed like the rest of her siblings.

Born under the Zodiac Sign Scorpio Grandma Martha lived up to the signs qualities of being  tough-minded, determined, loyal, brave (her siblings would often how she would run headlong into danger without a second thought) honest to a fault – and biting (that’s a longer story).

She never knew her grandparents – her father’s parents had remained in Italy and her mother had disowned her after she fell for The Italian Stallion as her father called Francisco.

She loved Topaz, her birthstone, even though it was only much later in her life that she could afford to own any of them. Her children and grandchildren bought her many of these lovely stones, in a huge range of colors, although she favoured the Pink, Yellow and Orange ones.They fill life with a “burning passion, increases energy, intelligence, and increases the fire of the wearers love life.” She told us all that, insistently over and over and over again  It’s little surprise that the Topaz gets its name from the Greek work “Fire”.

Grandma Martha was born into what is known as the Silent Generation which is a (fortunate) time period associated with wealth, and high education. That seems to have worked out well for Grandma because although she was born dirt-poor she managed to achieve (through hard work and determination) a good education, a good marriage and eventually enough money to live to the end of her life independently.

She lived a full and complicated life with a happy marriage, 7 children, 3 lovers and 16 grandchildren. She watched the launch of Apollo 12 and lived her devoutly Catholic life partially under Pope Pius XI.  She survived the loss of her husband in 1957,  successfully fighting the claims of manslaughter with arsenic, and lived contentedly with two of her lovers for the rest of her life – dividing her time one-week-on-one-week-off all the while serving her role as Chief Morals Guidance Officer to her extended family.

She was buried surrounded by her family bearing large bouquets of her birth flower Chrysanthemum in Paris, Delaware.

She loved Topaz, her birthstone, even though it was only much later in her life that she could afford to own any of them. Her children and grandchildren bought her many of these lovely stones, in a huge range of colors, although she favoured the Pink, Yellow and Orange ones.They fill life with a “burning passion, increases energy, intelligence, and increases the fire of the wearers love life.” She told us all that, insistently over and over and over again  It’s little surprise that the Topaz gets its name from the Greek work “Fire”.

Grandma Martha was born into what is known as the Silent Generation which is a (fortunate) time period associated with wealth, and high education. That seems to have worked out well for Grandma because although she was born dirt-poor she managed to achieve (through hard work and determination) a good education, a good marriage and eventually enough money to live to the end of her life independently.

She lived a full and complicated life with a happy marriage, 7 children, 3 lovers and 16 grandchildren. She watched the launch of Apollo 12 and lived her devoutly Catholic life partially under Pope Pius XI.  She survived the loss of her husband in 1957,  successfully fighting the claims of manslaughter with arsenic, and lived contentedly with two of her lovers for the rest of her life – dividing her time one-week-on-one-week-off all the while serving her role as Chief Morals Guidance Officer to her extended family.

She was buried surrounded by her family bearing large bouquets of her birth flower Chrysanthemum in Paris, Delaware.