Francesca Maletta

After a courageous six-year battle with appendix cancer, Francesca Maletta passed away on Thursday, February 25, 2021. Knowing her tenacity and moxie, she is not admitting defeat, instead, agreeing to call it a draw. Born in Saratoga Springs, New York to Thomas and Mary Finley, she learned her strength as one of ten siblings: all of whom will attest to her fighting spirit and kind heart.

A graduate of Saratoga Springs High School (’87) and S.U.N.Y. Oswego (’91), she moved to Charlotte in 1992, wed Keith Maletta in 1993, and was blessed with two incredible sons: Logan and Shane. Her boys were her pride and joy. Her love for them was ever-present, especially when they would perform or read in public or at church, resulting in what her children jokingly called her “juicy eye syndrome”. It was her love for them that powered her through endless treatments, set-backs, and struggles.

She became a financial planner and a manager of a great team of people at TIAA, who will tell you that she brought what they called “The Fran Factor” to everything she did. Ultimately, she was driven by a need to provide for her family. And provide she did.

She enjoyed walking, music, reading, exercising, kayaking, and epic ping pong matches, but her favorite outdoor activity of all was watching her boys’ soccer games.

She is survived by her husband Keith, who never thought the beautiful girl he met at a college gathering in 1989 would date him, let alone agree to marry him. She is also survived by her two sons: Logan (20) and Shane (15), who have been amazing throughout this fight.

Siblings are numerous: Paul Finley of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Kathleen Stamer and her husband Jeff of Wilton, N.Y.; Nancy Lyons of Gansevoort, N.Y.; Rose Bachman and her husband Mark of Big Flats, N.Y.; Peter Finley of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Thomas Finley Jr. of N.Y., N.Y.; Luke Finley of Hamburg, N.Y.; Matthew Finley of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; and her partner-in-crime, Pauline Haywood and her husband Scott of Lexington, V.A. Also, numerous awesome nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass will be held Friday, July 16, 2021 at 2:00 PM at St. James Catholic Church in Concord. In lieu of flowers, which she was never a fan of, please send donations to acpmp.org