F. Mark Granato, 68, local author and longtime Wethersfield resident died at his home on October 5, 2020 with his family by his side after a courageous battle with a long illness. Mark is survived by his loving wife of 43 years, Bobbie Hughes Granato, sons Jay Granato of Wethersfield, Jack Granato and his wife Andrea of Marshfield, MA, his three cherished grandchildren, Charlie, Jackson and Ella, who will miss their beloved “Papa”, brothers Bill and Steve Granato and sister Karen Tardette. Mark grew up in the south-end of Hartford and attended St. Augustine’s School, South Catholic High School (“South”) where he was an all-city Tight End before graduating from Providence College. It was at the first day of school at South in 1966, where he turned around and first saw the love of his life, Bobbie Hughes. Forever a romantic, for the next 54 years Mark would spend his life loving and doting on his beloved Bobbie. He cherished their dates, which sometimes only consisted of a drive down the Connecticut shore line in one of their classic cars. Ever the handy-man Mark could fix just about anything, affectionately dubbed by Charlie as his “fix-it man”, a skill that would come in handy as Mark and Bobbie re-modeled their forever home, an old English Tudor in Wethersfield.
Mark began his career as a writer and photographer for the Wethersfield Post and was one of the first photographers on the scene of the Civic Center collapse in 1978. Later Granato would begin working at United Technologies (“UTC”) where he photographed Mt. St. Helens before its massive eruption in 1980 and helped chase down the Space Shuttle rocket boosters in the Atlantic Ocean following numerous launches. Granato continued his career at UTC where he was elevated to the chief of staff to the Chairman of the Board Bob Daniel, before becoming the youngest Vice President in the company’s history. Following his retirement in 2005, Granato went on to pursue his dream of becoming an author. In his home studio, with his loyal companions, German Shepherd’s Groban and Hogan at his side, Granato would write twelve historic fiction novels, including the Pulitzer prize nominated “Finding David”; “Titanic – The Final Voyage”; “The Barn Find”; “Unleashed”; “Out of Reach – The Day Hartford Hospital Burned”; “Of Winds and Rage”; “The Long Shadow”; “Beneath His Wings”; “This Boy”; “Stars In Our Window”; “The Spirits Of Normandy” and “The Ride Of Our Lives”. Granato loved to write about his experiences in Hartford, his stories were always “close to home” involving characters both real and fictional from his beloved Connecticut. Mark was a car enthusiast, having re-furbished several classic cars including a yellow 1957 Mercedes Benz 190SL (affectionately nicknamed “old yellow car”), he tracked down and re-stored Bobbie’s high school car, a gray 1968 Oldsmobile 442 (“old gray old car”), and was in the midst of restoring a 1957 Porsche Coupe before becoming ill. Mark was also a painter, a home remodeler, and generally could do just about everything, a true “renaissance man”. Mark loved helping Bobbie put on her annual 2ndgrade school play at Charles Wright School. Mark was Bobbie’s secret play writer, set-designer, choreographer and over-all go-to-guy. Mark was a Beatles fanatic and one of Jack’s fondest memories will always be surprising and taking Mark to see Paul McCartney for the first time at Fenway Park in 2013, a show on his “bucket-list”. Amazingly in early March 2020, Papa managed to take his entire family to Disney World on one final vacation, his life-long dream, one that we will always cherish.
Above all else, Mark was a gentle, kind and loyal man who loved nothing more than spending time with his family. The Holidays will be particularly hard on his family as Mark loved to play Santa Claus to his children and grandchildren, often needing to be reminded that 15 Christmas presents per child from Papa may be too much. He was an amazing husband, father and grandfather and accomplished so much in his life before he was taken far too soon. Services will be private, with a celebration of Mark’s life to following in the next year. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Wethersfield Education Foundation at https://www.wethersfieldeducationfoundation.org.
A celebration of Mark’s life will be held at a later date. The D’Esopo Funeral Chapel of Wethersfield has been entrusted with the arrangements. For online expressions of sympathy to the family, please visit www.desopofuneralchapel.com.
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