"His great desire was to stay here, and we respected his wishes."

Students in sailor uniforms, students of the “Mario Paglietti” Nautical Technical Institute, school workers and friends, gathered in Porto Torres in front of the sea of the Gulf of Asinara for the last farewell to their principal, Franco Fracchia . He died last month of September due to ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a degenerative disease that left him with no escape. This morning the commemoration ceremony was held, with the ashes released offshore, into the sea in front of the Scoglio Lungo beach.

From here a long round of applause began for the farewell to the former school director, who passed away at the age of 71, spending almost 40 years among students, first as a teacher and then as principal. On board a boat his wife, Laura Martino, accompanied by her daughter Alice Fracchia and her two granddaughters, a few miles from the coast, threw the ashes into the sea and the wreath donated by the teachers and the current director, Daniele Taras. The canoes with the students on board act as a backdrop. Others watched from afar, on the Balai seafront. Mayor Massimo Mulas was also present at the ceremony. A moment of great impact and emotion. The urn was placed in the body of water, near the shore.

"We have carried out Franco's wishes and we wanted to do it with those who have been close to him all these years," said his wife Laura. "He gave his life for this school, it was his home - he underlines - the place where he lived among students, teachers and non-teaching staff, and he wanted to stay here forever." A place where you can continue browsing. Because “sailing is sweet to me in this sea”, he said. «My father was an extraordinary person – adds his daughter Alice – but what struck me most is seeing how many people were close to him, everyone expressed a special thought for him, remembered as a special person capable of being among young people from whose lifeblood he wanted to absorb."

Present among the students since 1976, when he was appointed temporary teacher of basic sciences, mathematics, physics and laboratory, in 1994 he took on the role of principal with an annual role for the first time, first at the “M. Paglietti” in Porto Torres and subsequently at the “E. Fermi” by Ozieri. Since 2004 he has held the position of permanent head teacher at the “Paglietti” Institute, which has become the only complex. He retired from his long period of service in September 2015. «We are honored that the Fracchia family has involved us in the memory of a figure who was fundamental for our school, - declares the head teacher Daniele Taras - the principal Franco Fracchia he will remain in the memory of all the people who knew him, but also in the students who were not fortunate enough to have him as a manager."

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