Franco Mario Piciotti

5^th May 1958 – 27^th May 1972

Franco died of natural causes at the home of his grand-parents, Mr. and Mrs. Zuber, in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight over the Whitsun holiday in 1972.

Whilst at school in West Byfleet Franco lived with his mother, Trudy, at 30 Green Lane in Byfleet, Surrey. On his arrival at West Byfleet Franco had achieved so much more within his short life than the rest of the class combined. Franco had appeared in the films “David Copperfield” and “Scrooge” in minor roles and also as an extra in various television commercials. He had done modelling work for mail order catalogues and was with Mrs. R. Hamilton’s agency, Cambridge Manor in Addlestone.

I remember during an English lesson, 1969/70, Mr Rees who used to tell us that he spent five minutes marking per pupil exercise book, which amounted every evening three hours for a typical class of 36, commenting that he had found the time to watch television and had seen Franco in a commercial.

With the recent flooding of the River Wey at Byfleet on 26^th/27^th December 2013, I was reminded of the more extensive flooding in the autumn of 1968 when Franco and his mother, Trudy, had the misfortune to have their property deluged in flood water.