John Francis 1939 - 2025

John Arthur Francis, of Dayton, Oregon, passed away July 3, 2025, after an 86-year adventure that took him to most corners of the Earth.

Born in 1939 to Arthur and Kay Francis in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, he graduated from the University of Alberta in 1961. He spent the next decade hitchhiking through Europe, Asia, and Africa, working at newspapers in southern Africa. In 1969, he earned a master’s in Film Production at UCLA, then returned to Africa, working as a journalist/filmmaker in Namibia, Angola, and South Africa.

In 1970, he married Marilyn Elbein, and they had a son, Eric, in 1974; they divorced in 1980. He returned to the U.S. full time in 1973, and was naturalized in 1977. He lived in Moscow, Idaho, working in the '80s at the University of Idaho, and Washington State in video production from 1988 to 1995. He also directed a PBS documentary “Writes & Wrongs,” detailing failures in U.S. education, and experimental short films. One, “Backabout,” played at festivals in the U.S. and Europe.

He retired due, in part, to failing eyesight. A cycling enthusiast, he biked through Europe and the U.S. He met his future wife, Catherine Poe of Dayton, during the Seattle-to-Portland Bicycle Classic. John moved to Dayton in 2004; they married in 2008.

John and Caye were inseparable during their final 25 years, traveling on their own and as members of Affordable Travel and Friendship Force International. They visited Mexico and Honduras with groups from the Dayton Evangelical Church, helping build houses. They brought sewing machines to Africa to teach young women how to sew sanitary pads to allow them to attend school during periods of menstruation, and also help women in those impoverished communities gain financial independence through a trade.

Eager to encourage traveling, John and Caye organized travel expos and detailed their travels in the News-Register and senior publications. Though hampered by diminishing eyesight, John produced videos about their travels until his final years.

He is survived by his sister, Jean (Rudy) Rumpel of Calgary, Canada; his son, Eric Francis (Sonia) of Houston; granddaughters, Jessica (Jay) Payne and Katherine (Troy) King of McMinnville. He was preceded in death by Caye earlier this year, and his brother, Al.

In lieu of flowers, go somewhere and help people.