Jean Francis

Jean Francis, just shy of her 88th birthday, passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at StoryPoint Senior Living in Powell, Ohio.

Jean was born on October 30, 1935 in Chillicothe, Ohio to the late Lloyd and Bessie Corcoran. She graduated from The Ohio State University and while in a radio communications class, there was a co-ed named Tom Francis who always filled her purse with erasers. That trick worked; they were married on June 30, 1957 and soon after Jean set sail on the Queen Mary to meet Tom in Poitiers, France where he was stationed with the Army. They had a year to take advantage of traveling and make life-long friends. Once back stateside they settled in Lima where she remained until moving to Columbus right before Covid to be closer to daughter Diane.

Jean loved playing bridge – usually 2-3 times a week; mainly with the ladies, but often again with Tom and other couples on the weekends. She was also an avid reader, sudoku solver, and iPad game player (solitaire was her favorite). She was also known for sending cards: birthdays & anniversaries, injuries & illness – she made a point to recognize significant events in family and friends’ lives, bringing joy to those on the receiving end of her well wishes.

As a member of her beloved Phi Beta Psi Sorority, Jean spent over 35 years raising money for cancer research. The annual conventions at destinations across the USA offered fun travel with her sorority sisters and typically one of the highlights of her year. Volunteering came easy to her, with many years of involvement in the Junior Service League, AAUW (especially the annual book fair) and the Opti-Mrs. club, along with years of service to Trinity United Methodist Church.

A true football fan, weekends in the fall would find her cheering on her OSU Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns.

More than anything, Jean loved doting on her grandchildren. Visiting Grandma meant trips to Squirty Worm, countless games of Rat-A-Tat-Cat and Tripoly, afternoons at the Sherwood Pool, and of course the mandatory lunch at the Kewpee.

She is survived by her daughters, Lynda (Freddy) Quintana of Houston, TX and Diane (Tom) Souder of Columbus, OH; grandchildren Nicole Quintana, Matthew Quintana, Justin Souder, and Abby Souder; and niece and nephew Jennifer Jameson Born and Seth Jameson and their families.  In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by her sister Janet Jameson and niece Anne Jameson Eisenhofer.

We want to express our heartfelt thanks to the staff at StoryPoint North Memory Care and Gentiva Hospice for their outpouring of love and compassion for our mom, not to mention making sure her red lipstick was applied and her white sweater on.

A memorial service will be held at Chamberlain-Huckeriede Funeral Home in Lima, Ohio on Saturday, November 18, 2023. Visitation begins at 10:00am, followed by the service at 11:00am.

In lieu of flowers, memorials contributions may be made to The Tom and Jean Francis Family Scholarship Fund at The Ohio State University, www.go.osu.edu/FrancisFamilyScholarship or Phi Beta Psi Sorority benefiting cancer research.

Condolences may be expressed at www.chamberlainhuckeriede.com.