John Q. Francis

Our Beloved father, John Quinn Francis, Sr., passed away on August 10, 2011 at Hospice Atlanta, due to congestive heart

Failure. He was 87 years old. Born May 10, 1924, in Blacksburg, SC, to Annie Turner Francis and John Meek Francis, John was the oldest of five. Hardworking and industrious, he began plowing his father’s fields at age seven and took over planting and harvesting the fields during high school and college. John loved to roam the South Carolina countryside with his best friend Paul Bridges, hunting and swimming in the streams. He attended a one room school house, Holly Grove Elementary and graduated from Blacksburg High School in 1941. John then attended the Apprentice School in Newport News, VA.,

spurring an interest in electrical engineering. He was selected for the Navy officer V-12 training program at Howard University

(now Samford) in Birmingham, Alabama but the war ended and he was honorably discharged from the Navy. After transferring

to the University of South Carolina, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1946 from the school of engineering and remained a lifelong Gamecock fan despite many years of gridiron disappointment. John was hired by Southern Bell in Columbia, SC in 1948, thus beginning a 41 year tenure that moved him throughout the Southeast. In 1949, John married Jane Rogers of Lake City, SC after meeting her on a blind date in Columbia. The family enjoyed several years on the Isle of Hope in Savannah, GA, before moving to New Jersey where John spent his most satisfying work years at AT&T Headquarters in New York City. He enjoyed travelling the country on business and attending engineering courses at Stanford University. He returned to Atlanta, GA in 1969 as a District Engineer before retiring as an executive in BellSouth’s Safety organization. John is predeceased by his mother and father; brothers, Robert and Tip; and sister, Betty. He is survived by daughter, Martha Francis York and husband, Byron York; son, J. Quinn Francis and wife, Laura Sims Francis; daughter, Liz Francis MacDougald and Husband, Harry W. MacDougald; brother, Steve Francis and wife, Sandra; grandchildren, John Q. Francis,III and wife Corinne, Park MacDougald, Quinn MacDougald, William Francis; and great-grandchildren, Niko and Jonas Francis. John dearly loved his family, his work at the Bell System, his church, his country, playing golf with friends Bob Bonk and Jim Johnson, Pawleys Island, and notably, his annual high school reunions with the Blacksburg High School Class of ’41. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Thornwell Home for Children, PO Box 60, 302 South Broad St., Clinton, SC 29325 or Hospice Atlanta, 5775 Glenridge Dr., NE, suite E200, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. Funeral services will be Sunday, August 14, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church with Rev. Ron Gilwreath officiating. Interment will follow at Arlington Memorial Park. The family will receive friends Saturday from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at H.M. Patterson and Son, Arlington Chapel, 173 Allen Rd, NE, Sandy Springs, GA 30328.