David W. Francis, of Coeur d'Alene, passed away Sept. 21, 2011, at home. David was born Jan. 4, 1943, to Arthur E. and Justina K. (Evans) Francis in Chillicothe, Ohio. He had two younger brothers, John C. Francis (d. 2007) and Robert A. Francis of Dayton, Ohio. He graduated from Chillicothe High School in 1961.

David married Angela M. Howcroft of Grimsby, England, in Chillicothe on Aug. 12, 1964. He and Angela moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was attending the University of Cincinnati. David received a B.S. degree in microbiology in June 1966. Twin daughters, Katie and Sarah were born in Cincinnati in August 1966.

David worked as a Research Microbiologist for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in Cincinnati from 1966-1989 and in Minneapolis from 1990-1995. His research work earned him admission to the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society. After retiring from the FDA, David worked at Ace Hardware in New Hope, Minn., from 1995-2003.

In 2003, David and Angela moved to Coeur d'Alene to be near their daughter and son-in-law, Katie and Mike Dolan, and grandchildren. Living in Idaho also allowed them to be closer to daughter, Sarah, who lives in Northern California.

David enjoyed many hobbies, including model railroading, stamp and coin collecting, photography, reading and listening to music.

In lieu of flowers, donations in David's memory can be sent to the Kootenai Humane Society, 11600 N. Ramsey Road, Hayden, ID 83835.

A family service was held at St. Luke's Episcopal Church with Yates Funeral Home in care of the arrangements.