Gene DeFronzo was born on January 7, 1936 in Waterbury, the son of the late Felix and Rose DiFronzo. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson Grammar School, Crosby High School and the University of Michigan with honors. He then graduated from Virginia Law School with his Juris Doctorate. Gene proudly served his country for more than 10 years with the U.S. Army Reserve. He was admitted to the CT Bar in 1960 and U.S. Federal Court in 1962.

While much can be written about his very successful law practice and the literally thousands of people he helped over the years, his passion was his commitment to fitness through the marathons he participated in and traveling all over North America to participate. Having won numerous national awards, Gene ran more than 12 marathons in every state and two in each province of Canada over his lifetime. Just before the outbreak of COVID in 2020, Gene was honored for participating in over 760 marathons and was ranked # 14 by the North American Mega Ranking for Eternal Endurance. Gene liked to travel and was fortunate to have visited many countries. An immensely generous person he always considered others before himself. He was exceptional in almost every way but he excelled the most at being a devoted lawyer, boss and friend and he was a stellar example of grace and class.

Gene’s first marathon was the New York Marathon in 1991 and after that he didn’t stop running marathons. He has so many stories to tell from getting loss to get to the marathon as getting loss running the marathon. His runner friends from many different states knew him from getting loss. He had a determination to finish the marathons even if he got lost and spent hours to finish them. His last marathon was in 2020 at the age of 84 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was not a quitter.

He started in 2015 organizing half marathons and marathons in Waterbury, CT. He brought to the City of Waterbury runners from all of over states. Many runners asked him to take pictures with him and they were impressed by his accomplishments and wanted to know his stories. He was the “The Marathon Man”