Joan Rose Francis, 81, fell asleep and awaits the return of Jesus Christ after a brief illness on January 22, 2021. She was surrounded by her loving family. Joan was born on August 30, 1939 in Queens, New York to John and Ann Kinsey.
She was a magnificent broad who devoured life! She was smart, funny, kind, larger than life and had the most amazing ability to love and give and serve without condition. She met the love of her life, Norman J. Francis, 60 years ago and they did it right. They had three children, Mark Francis (Mary), James Francis (Sandra) and Tish Gulick (Greg). They had seven grandchildren, one great grandchild, four nephews and three nieces.
After marrying Norman, an engineer, they moved to Huntington, CT. Joan became a teacher at St. Lawrence Catholic School. By the end of her career, she was teaching the children of students she had at the beginning of her career. She impacted the lives of generations of students as is evidenced, all these years later, by her vast collection of “world’s greatest teacher” coffee mugs.
When the time came, she and Norman retired to Ocala, FL. Joan volunteered at the local library and as an advocate with the local children services organization. They traveled the world together and loved their family, friends and their God.
She is survived by her husband, sister Patricia O’hara, three children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.