To All MARFC Members: I received a note from Vito LoPiccolo’s Daughter Janice to let Me know that Vito was in the hospital battling an infection and pneumonia. And with the most recent update I received on club Founder Vito LoPiccolo. He is doing better and has been transferred to a rehab center. She wanted me to pass this important information on to you so if you wish to send a card or lift Vito and the family in prayer you could do so. Cards can be sent to Vito LoPiccolo C/o MARFC at P.O.Box 8160, Roseville, MI 48066 and we will see Vito gets them.
Vito and his late Wife Barbara along with Bob and Norma Lewis and the Flokstra’s , Willis and Marion founded our club way back in 1965 at the kitchen table of the Lewis’s. Willis, Marion, and Vito are the remaining three that are still with us today. Please keep Vito and his family in your prayers and I’ll keep you updated.
Dave DeHem
MARFC President
Daily Archives: April 19, 2012
2 posts
From the ARCA Website, word has been recieved that Frances(Fran)Duff has passed away.
“Frances (Fran) Duff, who with her husband Dick Duff served for 3 decades as chief scorers at weekly ARCA sanctioned races at Flat Rock Speedway, Toledo Speedway and on the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards tour, died Monday April 16 at her residence in Toledo Ohio at the age of 88. In their duties as ARCA Officials, Fran and Dick Duff traveled to races throughout the Midwest with ARCA founders John and Mildred Marcum.
Fran Duff also scored hundreds of races at other nearby weekly tracks such as Jackson Speedway and Mt. Clemens Race Track in Michigan, and Oakshade and Eldora Speedways in Ohio. She was in the scoring tower for the inaugural race at Michigan Int’l Speedway in 1969, scored the inaugural World 100 at Eldora in 1971, and was a founding member and for many years served as Vice President of the Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club (MARFC). In addition, Fran and Dick Duff trained many ARCA officials to become chief scorers, including Sherry Miller and Terry Lake, and her grandson Charlie Krall works in the motorsports communications field. Semi-retiring in 1985, Fran and Dick moved to Charlotte, NC, where they worked for son-in-law Bill Gardner’s DiGard Racing Team. Fran served as team scorer for drivers Bobby Allison, Greg Sacks and Willy T. Ribbs. Fran Duff is survived by her husband Dick Duff; children Laraine (Rick) Meidt, Alan Adams, Patrick Adams, Christine (Bill) Gardner, Mary Geronimo and Amy Norwood; 16 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her first husband Paul Adams and daughter Paula Krall.
Richard & Frances joined the Michigan Automobile Racing Fan Club on March 31, 1966 which made them members for 46 years. All of us at MARFC express our condolences to the Duff Family.
Dave DeHem
MARFC President