COLUMBUS, NC - Barbara Thomas Francis, of Tryon Estates, Columbus, NC died Tuesday, October 3, 2006 at Tryon Estates Medical Facility, Columbus, NC. Born in Boston, MA, in 1918, she spent her formative years in Boston, Belgium and Canada, and attended first the Choat School for Girls, in Boston and then the Tourelles School in Brussels. After graduating from Branksome Hall in Toronto in 1937, she went to work as a secretary for the Edward Petrie Company in New York and it was during this time that she met her husband, Charles Driver Francis, Jr. They were married in 1942 and after WWII, in which her husband was in the Navy, they lived in Toledo, OH and New York City and then moved to Summit, NJ in 1953, where they raised their three children. In 1979, Charlie and Barbara retired to Tryon, NC, where Barbara became active in prayer groups of Tryon Presbyterian Church, of which she was a member. She also participated in several gardening and golfing clubs and volunteered at the Meeting Place for 15 years. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charlie, in November of 2005. Barbara is survived by her three children and their spouses: Hilary and Gary Kersteen of Wellfleet, MA; Tom and Marie Francis of Boston, MA; and Rob and Linda Francis of Singapore, who recently moved to Orlando, FL. She is also survived by eleven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and a great many friends from Tryon Estates and the surrounding area. She was greatly loved and will be sincerely missed by everyone who knew her. A memorial service will be held October 21, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. in the Tryon Presbyterian Church, Tryon, NC with Dr. David Hosick officiating. A reception will follow in the Church Fellowship Hall. Memorial may be made to the Tryon Presbyterian Church, 430 Harmon Field Rd., Tryon, NC 28782 or to Hospice of the Carolina Foothills, 130 Forest Glen Drive, Columbus, NC 28722.
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