James Francis,

Jim Francis, father to Eric and Andy and older brother to Phillip, died in his sleep at age 87 on the morning of March 14, 2010, at Arkansas Hospice. His life ended peacefully, without pain, and on his own terms. He was born in Piper City, Ill., on Nov. 21, 1922, to James Harold Francis Sr. and his wife Lucille M. (Tarpy) Francis. As the son of a superintendent of schools, Jim took learning seriously as a boy, and he also enjoyed collecting Indian arrowheads, hunting and fishing. He graduated from Piper City Community High School in 1940 and would later earn a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Illinois. During World War II Jim joined the U.S. Army and graduated from officer candidate school at Fort Knox shortly after D-Day. He became a lieutenant in the 89th Infantry Division, the famed Rolling W, where he rose to the rank of captain. Strong and inclined to athletic feats, he was also a sure and confident marksman. Once, during the advance on Berlin, his company was moving through a forest when German artillery units began firing “tree bursts,” the shells blasting the treetops overhead into deadly shrapnel. Jim flattened himself against a tree trunk; decades later, he could still vividly recall the sound of the shattered branches whipping past his safe haven. When the war ended, Jim signed on as a civilian employee helping to administer the Marshall Plan. He was posted in Salzburg, Austria, and quickly came to love the country, its people, and especially hunting roebuck, grouse, chamois sheep, and red deer, along with fishing Alpine trout streams. In 1948 the gamekeepers he’d befriended arranged a special red deer hunt for him in Inner Breitenau, where he shot an A-1-A specimen whose magnificent rack of antlers was proudly displayed ever after in his home. Jim’s official duties included acting as liaison with local businessmen. One day he was introduced to Ferdinand Porsche by friends visiting his office. Herr Porsche, it seemed, had an idea for a sports car and wanted American backing to start a factory. Jim looked him up and down for a moment and said, “Sports cars? Are you mad? Look around you, man – your country is in shambles. You don’t need to build sports cars, you need to build trucks so you can bring grain from the fields back to the people starving in the cities!” Then he politely showed Herr Porsche out. When he returned to the States, Jim took a friend’s advice and went into the life insurance business. His 41-year career with Lincoln National brought him to Little Rock, where he started his family – son Eric is a journalist and former reporter and editor at The North Little Rock Times, while son Andy is a lawyer in private practice. He instilled in both sons a love of the outdoors, an appreciation of proper grammar, and the value of a dollar. Jim was famously frugal, proudly citing his Scottish ancestry (a McFadden) for his parsimony. Jim was also a passionate weekend tree farmer. He acquired several parcels of South Arkansas pine forest and gave them evocative names like Slobovia and Rimrock Ranch. He spent many weekends there, planning harvests, surveying storm damage, or hunting deer with his friends. Most of those trips were made in his trusty red Carryall, a 1968 Chevrolet Suburban, with one or both sons along. His was recognized as Tree Farmer of the Year for Arkansas in 1979 and for the South in 1980. Later in life, when aching joints couldn’t keep up with his outdoor pursuits, his pastimes became less strenuous: Reading , especially books by Rosamunde Pilcher and Dick Francis; watching the Weather Channel; and enjoying a good meal. Nothing staved off the steady decline of his health, though, and during his final week the medical staffs at St. Vincent Infirmary and Arkansas Hospice attended him with great care and boundless compassion. Jim Francis was deeply loved and will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by his friends and family. In addition to his sons, he is survived by brother Phillip Francis and sister-in-law Myra of Champaign, Ill., and many nieces and nephews. The family will host a visitation from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, at North Little Rock Funeral Home, 1921 Main Street in North Little Rock. Guests are invited to view mementos from his long life, hear a Jim Francis story, or maybe tell one of their own. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the School of Forest Resources at the University of Arkansas-Monticello at: UAM Foundation Fund-Forest Resources, P.O. Box 3520, Monticello, AR 71656. Online obituary and guest register at www.nlrfh.com.

James Francis,

November 21, 1922 - March 14, 2010