JAY – Friends, family and community members Tuesday remembered 21-year-old Ryan Franchetti as a leader who made an impact on those around him.
Ryan died unexpectedly Monday at home of natural causes, his mother and father, Shelley and Steve Franchetti, said Tuesday.
It’s the third loss of a young person in Jay since August when Heather Johnson, 19, died in a car accident and Carley Pomerleau, 15, died of lifelong medical complications in September.
Ryan’s father said his son was “a very special person” who liked to help people with disabilities.
He used to bring those he cared for out for ice cream and to his family’s home, Steve Franchetti said.
“You could tell he was special,” he said. “Yes, it was his job, but he really enjoyed working with handicapped people. It was very challenging work … I consider him a leader among men.”
Ryan graduated from Jay High School in 2003 earning several academic awards and scholarships and special awards for working with people with disabilities, Shelley Franchetti said.
“He just was a wonderful kid,” she said. “We are very proud of him.”
Ryan was a student at the University of Maine at Farmington, majoring in rehabilitation and social services. He made the dean’s list while working full-time at Life Enrichment Advancing People Inc., or LEAP, in Farmington, as a direct care professional and advocate for adults with special needs.
Shelley Franchetti said her son had planned to further his education to become a registered nurse and he wanted to join the Peace Corps.
“I’m feeling a big loss to our profession,” university rehabilitation professor Karen Barrett said Tuesday. “He was a Jay kid who had the heart to connect with people who were going through tough times. He had this tremendous ability to connect with people.”
Former Jay High School Principal Peter Brown remembered Franchetti on Tuesday as being a very interesting young man involved in a number of school activities and a pretty good student.
“He was his own person and had his own ideas and wasn’t afraid to offer his opinions on all sorts of subjects,” Brown said. “I believe he enjoyed life. I believe he enjoyed school. He will be missed by a lot of people.”
Peers from Jay and friends he made along the way have gathered at the Franchetti residence since Monday.
Celina Purrington, 21, of Jay said Tuesday that she and Ryan had been friends since sixth-grade. “He was involved in everything and I was right there with him,” she said.
She remembered him for his leadership, his sense of humor and being an incredible friend.
Roxanne Butler, 21, of Jay, had dated Ryan for a bit and shared an apartment with him for a year while the two attended college in Farmington.
“Ryan was just an incredible person,” Butler said Tuesday.
He was always organizing stuff to do and visiting friends at college.
“We all love him,” she said. “It was his time now and we’re going to miss him very much.”
Jay School Department Superintendent Bob Wall said the crisis team met and has been providing support to students on a regular basis.
Franchetti’s younger brother, Derek, is a student at Jay High School and his mother works in the library at the Jay Elementary School.
The Jay School Department “extends its condolences and support for family and friends of Ryan Franchetti,” Wall said Tuesday. “Tragic events such as this make us aware that that our schools are an important source of support for our students in our community.”
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