Ernesto Franco-Holguin Retired to the Vineyard

Ernesto Franco-Holguin, long-time Vineyard resident, died on Friday, July 15 at his home in Chilmark surrounded by his family. He was the son of Dr. Roberto Franco of Bogotá, Colombia, a physician, authority on tropical diseases and rector of the University of Los Andes. Mr. Franco's mother, Matilde Holguin de Franco, was the daughter of Jorge Holguin, three-time president of Colombia in the early 1900s.

Mr. Franco was born in Paris on Dec. 3, 1916, and was educated in Europe and in Bogotá where he was graduated in law from the University of El Rosario. He came to the United States in 1941 to study at Bowdoin College and met his wife, Frances Walbridge Montignani, in New York city where she was working for Nelson Rockefeller's Inter-America program. He worked for W.R. Grace and Co. in New York and Mobile, Ala., and moved to Washington, D.C., in 1950 to work at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He worked as well for the International Finance Corporation and then served as the World Bank Special Representative to the United Nations in the 1960s. He was the first staff member of the bank to rise to the board of directors, where he served until his retirement in 1979. His retirement years were spent on the Vineyard, which he first visited in the 1940s. Before moving to the Vineyard permanently, he spent many summers in East Chop where he was known for his legendary stories and his enthusiasm for tennis. He was a member of the Chevy Chase and Metropolitan Clubs in Washington, the Edgartown Golf Club, Edgartown Yacht Club and Edgartown Reading Room, and the East Chop Tennis Club.

He is survived by his daughter, Maria Franco Granquist and her husband Charles, of Hamden, Conn., his two grandsons Charles and Peter Granquist, his sister and brother, Maria Victoria de Jaramillo and Jorge Franco-Holguin of Bogotá, and his devoted friend Elizabeth Smith of Edgartown. A memorial service will be held at the West Tisbury Congregational Church on Saturday, August 6 at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hospice of Martha's Vineyard, P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557, West Tisbury Congregational Church, West Tisbury, MA 02575 or Martha's Vineyard Community Services, 111 Edgartown Road, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568. Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home.