Robert M Francis

1922-1984 · West Union OH

Born 1922, Tiffin Township, Adams County, Ohio, USA

Died 1984

Father: Carey Hall Francis

Mother: Elma Matilda Bayless

Robert Melvin Francis was born on 29 October 1922 in Tiffin Township, Adams County, Ohio. His parents were Carey Hall Francis (1891-1962) and Elma Matilda Bayless Francis (1901-1976). His father had served in the First World War as a private first class in an army bakery company.

Robert was one of a large family. An older sister, Wyona Marie Francis, was born and died in 1921, the year before his birth. His younger siblings were Geneva Naomi Francis Morrison (1924-2010), Bruce Parker Francis (1926-1993), Elsie Cora Francis Gibson (1930-1980), Anna L Francis Wagner (1932-2021), Mary Ellen Francis Brooks (1940-2019) and Samuel Oliver Francis (1944-2019).

On 4 January 1943, at twenty, he was inducted into the United States Army at Cincinnati as a selectee. He was single, had one year of high school, and gave his work as a farm hand. He was enlisted for the duration of the war plus six months. He served in the Second World War and reached the rank of sergeant. A photograph from those years shows him in a field uniform and helmet in front of a tent.

After the war Robert married Ruth J Hartman, who was born in 1926. Their first child, Cora Roberta Francis, was born in Adams County on 2 October 1949 and died at home in Tiffin Township at half past four in the morning of 23 January 1950, three months and twenty-one days old. Dr. Hazel L. Sproull of West Union had attended her for three days; the cause was bronchopneumonia following five days of gastroenteritis. Robert gave the details for her certificate, and she was buried on 25 January in the I.O.O.F. cemetery at West Union. A son, John Robert Francis, was born in 1956. John died in 1984, the same year as his father.

Robert Melvin Francis died on 2 May 1984, aged 61. He is buried in Section 4 of West Union Cemetery, the town cemetery of West Union, the county seat of Adams County, Ohio. He has a flat army marker reading SGT US ARMY, WORLD WAR II, and a shared granite stone with Ruth.

Parents

Carey Hall Francis 1891-1962 Elma Matilda Bayless 1901-1976

Sources

Find a Grave, memorial for Sgt Robert Melvin Francis (1922-1984), West Union Cemetery, West Union, Adams County, Ohio, Section 4.

Find a Grave, memorial 59009195, photograph added by Anita Hunter, 2022.

Ohio Department of Health, certificate of death, Cora Roberta Francis, 1950 (Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953, FamilySearch ark 1:1:X6RN-37C).

National Archives, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, serial 35681396 (Access to Archival Databases).

Find a Grave, memorial 59009195, photograph added by Cemetery Photographer, 2012.

World War II Army Enlistment Records, National Archives, serial 35681396; Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953, Cora Roberta Francis, 1950 (FamilySearch ark 1:1:X6RN-37C); Find a Grave memorial 59009195 and its photographs.

Ohio Department of Health, certificate of death, state file 00007, Cora Roberta Francis, 1950 (Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953, FamilySearch ark 1:1:X6RN-37C, image 3:1:S3HY-6SLQ-Q5Q).

World War II Army Enlistment Records, National Archives, serial 35681396; Ohio death certificate of Cora Roberta Francis, 1950, state file 00007 (Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953, FamilySearch ark 1:1:X6RN-37C); Find a Grave memorial 59009195 and its photographs.

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Researched October 2026. Cite: Heirology, "Robert M Francis (1922-1984)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/robert-m-francis-1922-1984-62c434.