Barbara Lorraine (Tognacci) Dion, age 89, was a well-respected and greatly loved lifelong resident of Framingham, Ma.
She passed away quietly on Monday, April 22, 2024 in her home surrounded by family after fighting a long and heroic battle with cancer.
She was the beloved wife of 52 years to Arthur Raymond Dion of Framingham, MA who passed away in 2012.
Born and raised in Framingham, she was the daughter of the late Gofredo Tognacci and Enes Romani Tognacci.
She graduated from Framingham High School in the Class of 1952. She then went on to work at the Framingham Savings Bank and for years Lorraine also worked on and off at various jobs throughout the years including a marketing research company and a muffin shop, but the job she loved most was being a homemaker and caring for her family and those who surrounded her.
She had a passion for cooking and loved to do crafts. She loved to sing and had a huge love for music and dancing. She had remarkable joy for life and for people. One of her talents was to connect people to one another, changing people’s lives, and she formed large groups of various friends over the years. She was also fortunate enough to travel a bit and to take trips with her husband, relatives, and friends to many different locations over the years.
She also shared the love of camping with her husband Arthur earlier in her life and then driving with him in his refinished 1930 Model A Ford Sedan with friends in Minuteman Model A Club.
What Lorraine valued most was her family…there was nothing more important than that! She spent her life being best friends with her children and grandchildren and her husband. She loved her relatives and she also adored meeting her giant group of lifelong friends each morning for coffee.
Her legacy is the gift of her kindness and compassion and being caring and loving to all. She always had a kind word or act to others and was loved by many. Her sense of humor, joy and positive attitude was contagious, and she loved to pass that on by welcoming everyone and anyone into her home. She always gave back or tried to do something nice for everyone and she had a sense of gratitude that she passed on to her children and grandchildren. There are no words to express how much she will be truly missed each and every day.
Lorraine would want to tell everyone that she loved them and would want to thank them for all the joy and happiness they brought to her over the years.
She was a spectacular and amazing Grammy, Mimi, Aunt and Wife and the best mom and friend anyone could ever hope for! Lorraine is survived by her three children and their families, Susan Dion Rayburn and her husband Jonathan Rayburn and their two children, Brittany and Matthew, Laurie Dion and her two children Christopher and Mckenzie and Jeff Dion and his wife Patricia Bessert Dion and their two boys, Dylan and Devin. She is also survived by her sister Jean Tognacci Becker, brothers Freddie and David Tognacci and many nieces and nephews.
When you think of Lorraine, do what she would say and do daily…be good to people, thank them and say one little nice thing to someone today. That would make her happy.
She will always be in our hearts.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend her funeral on Saturday, April 27th, 2024 at 9AM from the Norton Funeral Home, 53 Beech St. (corner of Union Ave.), Framingham followed by her Funeral Mass at 10 AM at St. Tarcisius Church, 562 Waverly Street (Rt.135), Framingham. Burial will follow at St. Tarcisius Cemetery, Framingham.
Visiting hours at the funeral home will be Friday, April 26, 2024 from 4 – 7 PM.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made to the St. Jude’s Childrens Research Hospital www.stjude.org , or the American Cancer Society at 3 Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701 www.cancer.org .
To leave a message of condolence, please visit www.nortonfuneralhome.com
McCarthy McKinney Lawler Funeral Home