Francisco Therezo

Born in São Pedro, São Paulo, Brazil to Mr. Luiz Thereza and Benedita Maria De Jesus Thereza; Francisco was affectionately called “Chiquinho” by all of his family and friends. He was a kind, humble, and hard-working young man. In 1947, while working as a cook at a hotel in Agua de São Pedro, Francisco met an American Captain of a ship. The Captain was so impressed with Francisco’s work ethic that he presented him with the opportunity of a lifetime working aboard one of his ships. Francisco worked his way up from being a deckhand to eventually becoming a motorman. He spent nine years traveling the world by sea. In addition to his native Portuguese, Francisco learned to speak English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Dutch. He also met the love of his life, his beloved wife Miriam while both were working on a Norwegian ship. Francisco and Miriam were married in 1956, and decided to settle down in Brooklyn, NY to raise their family. Francisco was the first person from his city in Brazil to live in the United States, becoming a dual citizen as Frank Therezo in November1963.

While working at a car wash in Brooklyn, Frank met a well-known Italian mobster. The mobster was so impressed that Frank could speak fluent Italian, that he gave him a job on the Brooklyn waterfront as a longshoreman unloading the ships. Frank loved this job, and ultimately retired from the International Longshoremen Association after 33 years of service. After retirement, Frank and Miriam loved to travel to different cities and countries. However, their favorite place to go was Brazil. Although Frank was proud to be an American, he never forgot his roots. He loved his native country tremendously and looked forward to visiting his family and friends annually.

Frank Therezo was a cherished husband, father, grandparent, and friend. He enjoyed watching western movies and cartoons with his grandchildren; playing with all of his great-grandchildren, sitting outside on a warm summer day with his daughters while eating ice cream; cuddling on the couch with the family dogs; and his weekly phone calls with his family and friends in Brazil. Frank was a true blessing to all that knew him and he will be sorely missed.

Frank is predeceased by his beloved wife of 56 years, Mrs. Miriam Therezo; their son Mark Therezo; and grandson Anthony Allen. He is survived by his four daughters: Sally, Helena, Dianna, and Adrianna. His son-in-law Calvin Allen; His eight grandchildren: Tracy, Takeisha, Latrese, Venesha, Calvin, Shameka, Angelique, and Frankie; Grandson-in-law’s Ramsey & Ian; Granddaughter-in-law Shivonna, Twenty-two great-grandchildren, his dear friends Marcos, Joana, Sandra, the Rojas family, the Santander family, the Rezende family, the Silva family, the Pedro family, and the Neto family from his native country Brazil, and a host of family and friends.

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