He was born in Johnstown, PA on October 31, 1919 the son of Frank and Stella (Wagner) Locher.
Francis grew up in Johnstown, PA and attended schools there until age 16 when he moved to New York City. He enlisted in the US Marine Corp on October 15th, 1941 and served as a Lance Corporal during WWII and participated in the battle at Guadalcanal.
Before he moved to Keene following the war he was employed by Decca Records in New York as a pressman. He was employed by several Keene businesses including Wallingford Mills, Pittsburg Plate Glass Company and the Kingsbury Corp.
Frank was a member of the Gordon-Bissell Post 4 American Legion, the Keene Post 799 VFW, a member of the Pine Grove Spring Golf Club in Spofford, NH and was a communicant at St. Bernard’s Church in Keene. He was a devoted husband and father and was very active in the community and served as a special police officer with the Keene Police Department for more than eighteen years.
He enjoyed spending time with his family, playing pool and billiards, and he was an avid golfer and an amateur photographer. He also was a champion horseshoe pitcher and in his earlier days, he played softball and loved to ride snowmobiles when they first came out. He stayed active all of his life, he loved to walk and still drove his car through his ninetieth birthday.
He is survived by his eight children; six daughters; Patricia Locher of Keene, NH, Rosemary Locher of Plymouth, MA, Irene Benjamin, Donna Locher, Margaret Locher all of Keene and Joanne Raymond and her husband Kevin of Franklin, NH; his two sons; Richard Locher and his wife Jeanne of Pueblo, CO and Francis Locher and his wife Ingrid of Lempster, NH; one brother James Locher of Spartanburg, SC and a sister Evelyn Petroro of Johnstown, PA; twelve grandchildren, twenty great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife of fifty-four years Margaret in 1999; three brothers; Richard Locher, Benedict Locher, Jack Locher; and three sisters Margaret Tardello, Rose Edland, Louise Locher and a grandson Matthew Benjamin.
A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated in St. Bernard’s Church, 185 Main Street, Keene, NH on Friday morning, Feb. 1, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. Burial will be in the spring at St. Joseph Cemetery in Keene. Family and friends are invited to call at the Foley Funeral Home 49 Court Street, Keene on Thursday January 31, 2013 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
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