Clara M. Dwinell Lodi, born in Lowell, Massachusetts on July 13, 1925, moved to Franklin, Massachusetts in 1949 to teach at the high school. She taught business education there until 1955 when she took a break from teaching to raise her five children. Twenty years later, in 1975, she returned to Franklin High School as a special education tutor and substitute teacher.

 

Lodi was known as a philanthropist in the Town of Franklin, always stepping up to serve her community. She served on the Board of Directors for the Franklin Public Library and Frances Eddy King Student Fund, was a eucharistic minister for St. Mary’s Church, participated in Project Bread’s Annual Walk for Hunger twenty-five times, and continued attending Franklin High sporting events after her children had graduated. Two of her daughters, Paula Lodi and Maria Barrett, were the first pair of sisters to both earn the rank of general in the U.S. Army. She was named Franklin Rotary Club’s Citizen of the Year in 1999.

 

Clara Lodi died on April 6, 2010 at the Maples Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Franklin.