Two paving giants buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto

When 15-year-old James Franceschini stepped off the boat from Pescara, Italy, in 1906, he arrived in Canada with no money and barely a word of English.
But what he lacked in wealth, he made up for with determination.

Before long, James had launched his own small contracting business. He carefully saved every dollar, invested in equipment, and partnered with fellow Italian immigrants to start an excavation company. One of their earliest projects was building homes along Dufferin Street in Toronto—a modest beginning for what would become a major enterprise.

In 1912, he officially founded Dufferin Construction, laying the groundwork—literally and figuratively—for one of Canada’s most enduring infrastructure companies.

Decades later, in 1964, another Italian-Canadian story would begin. William Coco and his wife Nina founded Coco Paving in Windsor, Ontario. Like Franceschini, William started with humble beginnings and a strong work ethic. Over time, he built Coco Paving into a construction powerhouse—one that remains a major force in the Canadian construction industry to this day.

Together, the legacies of James Franceschini and William Coco tell a broader story: of immigration, entrepreneurship, and the building—brick by brick, road by road—of a nation.

Vincenzo(James)Franceschini died in the Laurentians on September 16, 1960. He was 52.

Guglielmo (William) Coco died in Toronto December 30, 2018. He was 84.

1890-1960

1935-2018

Returning from Haliburton, Ontario near Port Perry, Coco Paving working on the provincial roads.