PROVIDENCE --- Frances A. Rendine, 46, a departmental assistant in the Journal-Bulletin newsroom, died yesterday of cancer. She impressed a generation of reporters and editors with her appetite for work, her generosity of spirit and, near the end, her refusal to be sidetracked by disease.
In the ragged, sometimes charged environment of a newspaper, Mrs. Rendine was the epitome of order and cheer.
She would come in early, stay late, and come back on weekends or work Saturdays and Sundays at home to stay ahead of her job, which involved manning the phones, fielding inquiries and complaints, keeping track of upcoming events and rewriting press releases.
"She never left anything for anybody else to do," said Margaret M. Hackett, a now retired Journal receptionist. "She always did it because she wanted to make sure it was done right."
Mrs. Hackett said the precise neatness of Mrs. Rendine's desk drawers told the story. "If someone asked for something, she wanted to be able to put her hands right on it."
The job description most certainly did not require arriving at 7 a.m. to walk around with a spray bottle, cleaning off editors' desks. But Mrs. Rendine did it, and when anyone scolded her - "Why are you doing that? You don't have to do that" - she'd say quietly, "I like to."
"You know why she liked to?" said Mrs. Hackett. "Because she loved those people."
"It was like her life, especially after the kids grew up," said Annette Angeli, an interior designer and longtime friend.
"The Journal could do no wrong. It was almost like her children . . . she was very protective of everyone."
Mrs. Rendine was a Providence native and Mount Pleasant High School alumna; she and her husband, Robert J. Rendine, lived at 366 Mount Pleasant Ave.
She began at the Journal as a part-time dictationist in 1964. Albert R. Johnson, retired city editor, recalled, "She was always ready to do more than her share of the work, and her relations with the scores of people who phoned or brought in news items that she would handle for the city pages were always warm and always professional."
Columnist Martha Smith marveled at her enthusiasm for aiding members of the public. "She wouldn't say, 'I'm busy.' She'd say, 'I'll be glad to try to help.' " (Today's Martha Smith column mentions Mrs. Rendine and was written before Mrs. Rendine died yesterday.)
Carol J. Young, a top editor, declared, "In another era, she would have been a reporter or an editor. She had all the right instincts for being in the newsroom. She knew what a news story was . . . she was very, very careful to be accurate."
And thoughtful. Sitting around on Young's desk used to be two photos of her toddler daughter. One day, out of nowhere, the two pictures were encased in frames. Fran Rendine had struck again.
Mrs. Rendine and her husband, who is in charge of telecommunications for Amica Insurance, have two children, Robert Jr., a top aide to Rep. Claudine Schneider, and Lisa, a senior at the University of Maine. With young Robert's work and with David D. Barricelli, Democratic Party executive director, being a family friend, Mrs. Rendine was excited by politics and followed it closely.
When someone from the Journal would participate in a taped TV news interview, an animated Mrs. Rendine would say, "Oooh, I'll watch!" And she always wanted to know what the Sunday political column would be about.
To Ann McGarry, a Journal secretary, Mrs. Rendine was a bubbly shopping companion, an irrepressible bargain hunter. "Fran never bought anything full price," Mrs. McGarry said. When she'd unearth a clothes bargain, "She'd get excited. She'd say, 'I can't wait to get home and put it in the drawer!' "
But it was Mrs. McGarry who also had perhaps the closest view of an uncomplaining Fran Rendine struggling with cancer. "She fought right from day one," Mrs. McGarry said. "She wouldn't give in to that disease. She would go for chemotherapy at 4:30 Wednesday afternoon and she'd be in at work 7:30 Thursday morning. I said, 'Fran, how can you do this? Your body's got to rest.' She said, 'I'm not going to let it get me down.' "
This went on for months, until the disease finally began to overpower her in January. One day Mrs. McGarry encountered Mrs. Rendine in the ladies' lounge, crying. "She said, 'I can't fight it.' She broke down, but she wouldn't go home."
Eventually, Mrs. Rendine was hospitalized. In late March, barely audible, she phoned Mrs. McGarry and said, "I don't want you to worry about me."
Jeanne Edwards, an editor, said Mrs. Rendine used to compare herself unfavorably with John F. Kiffney, a Journal reporter who died of cancer last summer. "She would say, 'I'm not brave like Kiff.' But in her own way she was. Where John may have found it easier to talk about death, writing his own obituary, planning his own funeral, Fran would just sort of go around and talk about other things. She didn't want to burden other people with her problems."
Mrs. Rendine, who was born on July 28, 1941, was the daughter of Mary A. (Casey) Sormanti of Providence and the late Albert Sormanti. Other survivors include a sister, Elizabeth Eldredge of Providence, and five brothers: Raymond Sormanti of Kansas City, Kan., Richard Sormanti of Granby, Mass., Victor Sormanti of Winchester, Mass., Albert Sormanti of Hollywood, Calif., and Gerald Sormanti in Paraguay, South America.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday at a time to be announced at Blessed Sacrament Church, Academy Avenue. Burial will be in St. Ann's Cemetery, Cranston.
Copyright Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Apr 03, 1988
In the ragged, sometimes charged environment of a newspaper, Mrs. Rendine was the epitome of order and cheer.
She would come in early, stay late, and come back on weekends or work Saturdays and Sundays at home to stay ahead of her job, which involved manning the phones, fielding inquiries and complaints, keeping track of upcoming events and rewriting press releases.
"She never left anything for anybody else to do," said Margaret M. Hackett, a now retired Journal receptionist. "She always did it because she wanted to make sure it was done right."
Mrs. Hackett said the precise neatness of Mrs. Rendine's desk drawers told the story. "If someone asked for something, she wanted to be able to put her hands right on it."
The job description most certainly did not require arriving at 7 a.m. to walk around with a spray bottle, cleaning off editors' desks. But Mrs. Rendine did it, and when anyone scolded her - "Why are you doing that? You don't have to do that" - she'd say quietly, "I like to."
"You know why she liked to?" said Mrs. Hackett. "Because she loved those people."
"It was like her life, especially after the kids grew up," said Annette Angeli, an interior designer and longtime friend.
"The Journal could do no wrong. It was almost like her children . . . she was very protective of everyone."
Mrs. Rendine was a Providence native and Mount Pleasant High School alumna; she and her husband, Robert J. Rendine, lived at 366 Mount Pleasant Ave.
She began at the Journal as a part-time dictationist in 1964. Albert R. Johnson, retired city editor, recalled, "She was always ready to do more than her share of the work, and her relations with the scores of people who phoned or brought in news items that she would handle for the city pages were always warm and always professional."
Columnist Martha Smith marveled at her enthusiasm for aiding members of the public. "She wouldn't say, 'I'm busy.' She'd say, 'I'll be glad to try to help.' " (Today's Martha Smith column mentions Mrs. Rendine and was written before Mrs. Rendine died yesterday.)
Carol J. Young, a top editor, declared, "In another era, she would have been a reporter or an editor. She had all the right instincts for being in the newsroom. She knew what a news story was . . . she was very, very careful to be accurate."
And thoughtful. Sitting around on Young's desk used to be two photos of her toddler daughter. One day, out of nowhere, the two pictures were encased in frames. Fran Rendine had struck again.
Mrs. Rendine and her husband, who is in charge of telecommunications for Amica Insurance, have two children, Robert Jr., a top aide to Rep. Claudine Schneider, and Lisa, a senior at the University of Maine. With young Robert's work and with David D. Barricelli, Democratic Party executive director, being a family friend, Mrs. Rendine was excited by politics and followed it closely.
When someone from the Journal would participate in a taped TV news interview, an animated Mrs. Rendine would say, "Oooh, I'll watch!" And she always wanted to know what the Sunday political column would be about.
To Ann McGarry, a Journal secretary, Mrs. Rendine was a bubbly shopping companion, an irrepressible bargain hunter. "Fran never bought anything full price," Mrs. McGarry said. When she'd unearth a clothes bargain, "She'd get excited. She'd say, 'I can't wait to get home and put it in the drawer!' "
But it was Mrs. McGarry who also had perhaps the closest view of an uncomplaining Fran Rendine struggling with cancer. "She fought right from day one," Mrs. McGarry said. "She wouldn't give in to that disease. She would go for chemotherapy at 4:30 Wednesday afternoon and she'd be in at work 7:30 Thursday morning. I said, 'Fran, how can you do this? Your body's got to rest.' She said, 'I'm not going to let it get me down.' "
This went on for months, until the disease finally began to overpower her in January. One day Mrs. McGarry encountered Mrs. Rendine in the ladies' lounge, crying. "She said, 'I can't fight it.' She broke down, but she wouldn't go home."
Eventually, Mrs. Rendine was hospitalized. In late March, barely audible, she phoned Mrs. McGarry and said, "I don't want you to worry about me."
Jeanne Edwards, an editor, said Mrs. Rendine used to compare herself unfavorably with John F. Kiffney, a Journal reporter who died of cancer last summer. "She would say, 'I'm not brave like Kiff.' But in her own way she was. Where John may have found it easier to talk about death, writing his own obituary, planning his own funeral, Fran would just sort of go around and talk about other things. She didn't want to burden other people with her problems."
Mrs. Rendine, who was born on July 28, 1941, was the daughter of Mary A. (Casey) Sormanti of Providence and the late Albert Sormanti. Other survivors include a sister, Elizabeth Eldredge of Providence, and five brothers: Raymond Sormanti of Kansas City, Kan., Richard Sormanti of Granby, Mass., Victor Sormanti of Winchester, Mass., Albert Sormanti of Hollywood, Calif., and Gerald Sormanti in Paraguay, South America.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday at a time to be announced at Blessed Sacrament Church, Academy Avenue. Burial will be in St. Ann's Cemetery, Cranston.
Copyright Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Apr 03, 1988
PROVIDENCE --- Frances A. Rendine, 46, a departmental assistant in the Journal-Bulletin newsroom, died yesterday of cancer. She impressed a generation of reporters and editors with her appetite for work, her generosity of spirit and, near the end, her refusal to be sidetracked by disease.
In the ragged, sometimes charged environment of a newspaper, Mrs. Rendine was the epitome of order and cheer.
She would come in early, stay late, and come back on weekends or work Saturdays and Sundays at home to stay ahead of her job, which involved manning the phones, fielding inquiries and complaints, keeping track of upcoming events and rewriting press releases.
"She never left anything for anybody else to do," said Margaret M. Hackett, a now retired Journal receptionist. "She always did it because she wanted to make sure it was done right."
Mrs. Hackett said the precise neatness of Mrs. Rendine's desk drawers told the story. "If someone asked for something, she wanted to be able to put her hands right on it."
The job description most certainly did not require arriving at 7 a.m. to walk around with a spray bottle, cleaning off editors' desks. But Mrs. Rendine did it, and when anyone scolded her - "Why are you doing that? You don't have to do that" - she'd say quietly, "I like to."
"You know why she liked to?" said Mrs. Hackett. "Because she loved those people."
"It was like her life, especially after the kids grew up," said Annette Angeli, an interior designer and longtime friend.
"The Journal could do no wrong. It was almost like her children . . . she was very protective of everyone."
Mrs. Rendine was a Providence native and Mount Pleasant High School alumna; she and her husband, Robert J. Rendine, lived at 366 Mount Pleasant Ave.
She began at the Journal as a part-time dictationist in 1964. Albert R. Johnson, retired city editor, recalled, "She was always ready to do more than her share of the work, and her relations with the scores of people who phoned or brought in news items that she would handle for the city pages were always warm and always professional."
Columnist Martha Smith marveled at her enthusiasm for aiding members of the public. "She wouldn't say, 'I'm busy.' She'd say, 'I'll be glad to try to help.' " (Today's Martha Smith column mentions Mrs. Rendine and was written before Mrs. Rendine died yesterday.)
Carol J. Young, a top editor, declared, "In another era, she would have been a reporter or an editor. She had all the right instincts for being in the newsroom. She knew what a news story was . . . she was very, very careful to be accurate."
And thoughtful. Sitting around on Young's desk used to be two photos of her toddler daughter. One day, out of nowhere, the two pictures were encased in frames. Fran Rendine had struck again.
Mrs. Rendine and her husband, who is in charge of telecommunications for Amica Insurance, have two children, Robert Jr., a top aide to Rep. Claudine Schneider, and Lisa, a senior at the University of Maine. With young Robert's work and with David D. Barricelli, Democratic Party executive director, being a family friend, Mrs. Rendine was excited by politics and followed it closely.
When someone from the Journal would participate in a taped TV news interview, an animated Mrs. Rendine would say, "Oooh, I'll watch!" And she always wanted to know what the Sunday political column would be about.
To Ann McGarry, a Journal secretary, Mrs. Rendine was a bubbly shopping companion, an irrepressible bargain hunter. "Fran never bought anything full price," Mrs. McGarry said. When she'd unearth a clothes bargain, "She'd get excited. She'd say, 'I can't wait to get home and put it in the drawer!' "
But it was Mrs. McGarry who also had perhaps the closest view of an uncomplaining Fran Rendine struggling with cancer. "She fought right from day one," Mrs. McGarry said. "She wouldn't give in to that disease. She would go for chemotherapy at 4:30 Wednesday afternoon and she'd be in at work 7:30 Thursday morning. I said, 'Fran, how can you do this? Your body's got to rest.' She said, 'I'm not going to let it get me down.' "
This went on for months, until the disease finally began to overpower her in January. One day Mrs. McGarry encountered Mrs. Rendine in the ladies' lounge, crying. "She said, 'I can't fight it.' She broke down, but she wouldn't go home."
Eventually, Mrs. Rendine was hospitalized. In late March, barely audible, she phoned Mrs. McGarry and said, "I don't want you to worry about me."
Jeanne Edwards, an editor, said Mrs. Rendine used to compare herself unfavorably with John F. Kiffney, a Journal reporter who died of cancer last summer. "She would say, 'I'm not brave like Kiff.' But in her own way she was. Where John may have found it easier to talk about death, writing his own obituary, planning his own funeral, Fran would just sort of go around and talk about other things. She didn't want to burden other people with her problems."
Mrs. Rendine, who was born on July 28, 1941, was the daughter of Mary A. (Casey) Sormanti of Providence and the late Albert Sormanti. Other survivors include a sister, Elizabeth Eldredge of Providence, and five brothers: Raymond Sormanti of Kansas City, Kan., Richard Sormanti of Granby, Mass., Victor Sormanti of Winchester, Mass., Albert Sormanti of Hollywood, Calif., and Gerald Sormanti in Paraguay, South America.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday at a time to be announced at Blessed Sacrament Church, Academy Avenue. Burial will be in St. Ann's Cemetery, Cranston.
Copyright Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Apr 03, 1988
In the ragged, sometimes charged environment of a newspaper, Mrs. Rendine was the epitome of order and cheer.
She would come in early, stay late, and come back on weekends or work Saturdays and Sundays at home to stay ahead of her job, which involved manning the phones, fielding inquiries and complaints, keeping track of upcoming events and rewriting press releases.
"She never left anything for anybody else to do," said Margaret M. Hackett, a now retired Journal receptionist. "She always did it because she wanted to make sure it was done right."
Mrs. Hackett said the precise neatness of Mrs. Rendine's desk drawers told the story. "If someone asked for something, she wanted to be able to put her hands right on it."
The job description most certainly did not require arriving at 7 a.m. to walk around with a spray bottle, cleaning off editors' desks. But Mrs. Rendine did it, and when anyone scolded her - "Why are you doing that? You don't have to do that" - she'd say quietly, "I like to."
"You know why she liked to?" said Mrs. Hackett. "Because she loved those people."
"It was like her life, especially after the kids grew up," said Annette Angeli, an interior designer and longtime friend.
"The Journal could do no wrong. It was almost like her children . . . she was very protective of everyone."
Mrs. Rendine was a Providence native and Mount Pleasant High School alumna; she and her husband, Robert J. Rendine, lived at 366 Mount Pleasant Ave.
She began at the Journal as a part-time dictationist in 1964. Albert R. Johnson, retired city editor, recalled, "She was always ready to do more than her share of the work, and her relations with the scores of people who phoned or brought in news items that she would handle for the city pages were always warm and always professional."
Columnist Martha Smith marveled at her enthusiasm for aiding members of the public. "She wouldn't say, 'I'm busy.' She'd say, 'I'll be glad to try to help.' " (Today's Martha Smith column mentions Mrs. Rendine and was written before Mrs. Rendine died yesterday.)
Carol J. Young, a top editor, declared, "In another era, she would have been a reporter or an editor. She had all the right instincts for being in the newsroom. She knew what a news story was . . . she was very, very careful to be accurate."
And thoughtful. Sitting around on Young's desk used to be two photos of her toddler daughter. One day, out of nowhere, the two pictures were encased in frames. Fran Rendine had struck again.
Mrs. Rendine and her husband, who is in charge of telecommunications for Amica Insurance, have two children, Robert Jr., a top aide to Rep. Claudine Schneider, and Lisa, a senior at the University of Maine. With young Robert's work and with David D. Barricelli, Democratic Party executive director, being a family friend, Mrs. Rendine was excited by politics and followed it closely.
When someone from the Journal would participate in a taped TV news interview, an animated Mrs. Rendine would say, "Oooh, I'll watch!" And she always wanted to know what the Sunday political column would be about.
To Ann McGarry, a Journal secretary, Mrs. Rendine was a bubbly shopping companion, an irrepressible bargain hunter. "Fran never bought anything full price," Mrs. McGarry said. When she'd unearth a clothes bargain, "She'd get excited. She'd say, 'I can't wait to get home and put it in the drawer!' "
But it was Mrs. McGarry who also had perhaps the closest view of an uncomplaining Fran Rendine struggling with cancer. "She fought right from day one," Mrs. McGarry said. "She wouldn't give in to that disease. She would go for chemotherapy at 4:30 Wednesday afternoon and she'd be in at work 7:30 Thursday morning. I said, 'Fran, how can you do this? Your body's got to rest.' She said, 'I'm not going to let it get me down.' "
This went on for months, until the disease finally began to overpower her in January. One day Mrs. McGarry encountered Mrs. Rendine in the ladies' lounge, crying. "She said, 'I can't fight it.' She broke down, but she wouldn't go home."
Eventually, Mrs. Rendine was hospitalized. In late March, barely audible, she phoned Mrs. McGarry and said, "I don't want you to worry about me."
Jeanne Edwards, an editor, said Mrs. Rendine used to compare herself unfavorably with John F. Kiffney, a Journal reporter who died of cancer last summer. "She would say, 'I'm not brave like Kiff.' But in her own way she was. Where John may have found it easier to talk about death, writing his own obituary, planning his own funeral, Fran would just sort of go around and talk about other things. She didn't want to burden other people with her problems."
Mrs. Rendine, who was born on July 28, 1941, was the daughter of Mary A. (Casey) Sormanti of Providence and the late Albert Sormanti. Other survivors include a sister, Elizabeth Eldredge of Providence, and five brothers: Raymond Sormanti of Kansas City, Kan., Richard Sormanti of Granby, Mass., Victor Sormanti of Winchester, Mass., Albert Sormanti of Hollywood, Calif., and Gerald Sormanti in Paraguay, South America.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday at a time to be announced at Blessed Sacrament Church, Academy Avenue. Burial will be in St. Ann's Cemetery, Cranston.
Copyright Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Apr 03, 1988
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