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"I feel strongly that we ought to do something to ensure the Band's future, because that's the best thing we could do in Mr. C's memory." - Jeremy Fox '95

Contributions to the Francis C. Cardillo Memorial Music and Marching Band Endowment, a.k.a. Francis C. Il Duce His Holiness Subcommandante Armadillo Cardillo Music and Marching Band Endowment can be mailed to:

The Francis Cardillo Memorial Fund
c/o Donor Relations
Williams College
P.O. Box 231
Williamstown, MA 01267

There can never be another Cardillo, and as much as we might hope otherwise, things will never be quite the same. Trying to specify the criteria for his successor is a wonderful way to remember the best about Mr. C. But we're never going to find someone who can fill his shoes, create exactly the same spirit, etc... When you come right down to it, Fran was a teacher and a charismatic leader -- he taught in the Williamstown public schools for many years; he coached sports at various institutions around the Berkshires; he taught and tutored many students in the clarinet; and he taught all of us in the Band -- and lots of people in audiences over the years -- innumerable ways to smile and have a good time while working hard and performing successfully. He was involved with a local scholarship fund for North Adams youths, for which his family requested memorial donations at the time of the funeral... The Band is always among my fondest memories of Williams... A hundred years from now, when none of us is here, but the Cardillo Fund (or whatever it is ultimately called) continues to provide aid to a band, a student, a college performing group, or all of these, won't that be the real legacy we want to leave -- always in Fran's name, and always in a way that someone will be impressed that a group of his disciples (or perhaps, wards from the asylum over which he presided) loved a non-tenured faculty advisor so much as to create something enduring for the institution he served and the college community through which we all passed? That's my hope. ...We should someday have a get together to share our most memorable recollections of Fran -- like, for example, the day in '70 or '71 when, On the way back from the away football game against Union College in Schenectady, the Band motorcade (yeah, we travelled in style in those days --in addition to the chartered bus, there were typically a number of Band members' cars -- the purple VW bug of Craig Anderson '71, my predecessor as student leader; later, my scarlet '67 Mustang; always especially bright colors and, when possible, any band members' convertibles) -- anyway, the motorcade was stuck at a messy intersection of two major roads outside the garden spot of Troy, NY. Fran, whose patience was legendarily short (as you'll all remember), got out of the car, proceeded to stop traffic, and directed the Band bus and motocade through the intersection, taking a well-deserved bow before his cheering wards. No wonder we called him our "Fearless Leader." ...I do miss him. Visits to Williamstown, football weekends, and the golf course will never be the same. - Richard Levy '74

Fran was one of the most genuine, warm and friendly people I have ever met. He had a sense of humor that would not quit, and loved working with his kids, the wacked out members of the Moo Cow Marching Band. I loved playing in the band and kidding with him as he gently prodded us to pull something entertaining together for each half-time show. But he was far more than a great band leader, or a good joke teller: he was a friend. - Michael Prigoff '73