DONALD J. DiFRANCO: A Quirky
Perfectionist
When
Donald J. DiFranco set out to replace the roof on his
house, he counted out every nail and every tile he would
need before starting.
When he needed new windows for the house, he spent
months compiling a list of virtually all the window
manufacturers in the world. After he ordered the windows,
he stained the wood around each pane, applying coat after
coat, before installing them. But the windows did not
look quite right, so he removed them, stained them again
and put them back in.
Mr. DiFranco, 43, the engineer in charge of
maintaining WABC-TV's transmitter on the 110th floor of 1
World Trade Center, approached the tasks of life with a
quirky perfectionism. This endeared him to anyone who
watched him work and to relatives, who counted on his
being able to tackle anything, from broken radios to tax
returns. "He just had something you can't learn," said
his sister, Lisa Pipitone.
Mr. DiFranco would often work late. But before he left
the building -- no matter what time it was -- he would
slip on a pair of work gloves and do a long set of
push-ups, said his co-worker, Vinny Ioele. "It was a good
sign to see him put on the gloves," Mr. Ioele said. "That
meant it was time to go."
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