{"id":45345,"date":"2025-07-17T19:34:39","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T23:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=45345"},"modified":"2025-07-17T19:34:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T23:34:39","slug":"rest-in-peace-connie-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/07\/17\/rest-in-peace-connie-francis\/","title":{"rendered":"Rest In Peace Connie Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

We took these photos in 2017 when Connie Francis was The Grand Marshal of the Columbus Day Parade in South Philadelphia. She was very sweet and was thrilled that our son was familiar with her music. Thanks for the music Miss Francis, you will be missed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We took these photos in 2017 when Connie Francis was The Grand Marshal of the Columbus Day Parade in South Philadelphia. She was very sweet and was thrilled that our son was familiar with her music. Thanks for the music … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[176,4,104,2093],"tags":[5471,4214,799,2843],"class_list":["post-45345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holiday","category-news","category-philadelphia","category-photography-2","tag-columbus-day-parade","tag-connie-francis","tag-jerry-blavat","tag-south-philadelphia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-bNn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22693,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2017\/10\/09\/philadelphia-columbus-day-parade-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":45345,"position":0},"title":"Philadelphia Columbus Day Parade 2017","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"October 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Who's Sorry Now? Not me, I got to meet the magnificent Connie Francis,\u00a0Grand Marshal of Philadelphia's Columbus Day Parade held yesterday on Broad Street. Pictured is Ms. Francis with disc jockey Jerry Blavat -\u00a0\"The Geator with the Heater\". More photos behind the cut.\u00a0 SaveSave SaveSave","rel":"","context":"In "Holiday"","block_context":{"text":"Holiday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/holiday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/CDPconnie.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/CDPconnie.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/CDPconnie.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41696,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2023\/10\/09\/columbus-day-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":45345,"position":1},"title":"Columbus Day 2023","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"October 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It's Columbus Day, and while we celebrate the intrepid explorer and Italian heritage, in Philadelphia we pause to remember a very big part of the celebration -- Jerry Blavat. Jerry passed away this past January and it felt as part of Philadelphia passed with him. Whether it was a Church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holiday"","block_context":{"text":"Holiday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/holiday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ConnieFrancis.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ConnieFrancis.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ConnieFrancis.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39899,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2023\/01\/20\/jerry-blavat\/","url_meta":{"origin":45345,"position":2},"title":"Jerry Blavat","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"January 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I found out this morning that Jerry Blavat passed away. He was a Philadelphia DJ\/institution who hosted Philly's annual Columbus Day Parade. As a popular DJ, he was as important to Rock and Roll music as the musicians. He seemed to have boundless energy and his calendar was full of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DeanaJerry-scaled-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DeanaJerry-scaled-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DeanaJerry-scaled-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DeanaJerry-scaled-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21161,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2016\/10\/10\/philadelphia-columbus-day-parade-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":45345,"position":3},"title":"Philadelphia Columbus Day Parade 2016","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"October 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Along the parade route on Broad Street - Jerry Blavat and Grand Marshal Danny Aiello.","rel":"","context":"In "Philadelphia"","block_context":{"text":"Philadelphia","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/philadelphia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BlavatAiello-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BlavatAiello-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BlavatAiello-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BlavatAiello-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BlavatAiello-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/BlavatAiello-2.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39231,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2022\/10\/10\/columbus-day-parade-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":45345,"position":4},"title":"Columbus Day Parade 2022","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"October 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday was The Columbus Day Parade on South Broad Street. Dean Martin's daughter, Deana presided as the Grand Marshal, with Jerry Blavat. More photos under the cut. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Holiday"","block_context":{"text":"Holiday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/holiday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Band-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Band-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Band-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Band-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Band-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Band-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39238,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2022\/10\/10\/columbus-day-festivities-in-south-philadelphia\/","url_meta":{"origin":45345,"position":5},"title":"Columbus Day Festivities in South Philadelphia","author":"Joe","date":"October 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Holiday"","block_context":{"text":"Holiday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/holiday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSCN7971.jpg?fit=640%2C471&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSCN7971.jpg?fit=640%2C471&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSCN7971.jpg?fit=640%2C471&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ConnieFrancis.jpg.webp?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}