Virginia Lou Thornhill Francis, 81, of Southern Pines, passed away Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012, at Pinehurst Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.
A service was conducted at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, at Calvary Memorial Church. She was laid to rest beside her husband, Joe David Francis, at Calvary Memorial Church cemetery in Hoke County.
Mrs. Francis was born Nov. 5, 1930, in Little Rock, Ark., to Larkin and Ruth (Hill) Thornhill. She became a Christian early in her life. In 1950 she met and married Joe David Francis, of Brownwood, Texas, and they settled in Austin. In 1955 she became the breadwinner for her family when her husband became permanently disabled in an accident.
She worked for many years for the U.S. government as a federal civil servant in Austin. She graduated from the University of Texas, Austin, with a bachelor of arts. In 1975, she retired with her husband to Southern Pines to be near her sons, who had served in the Army at Fort Bragg and afterward settled in Southern Pines.
She is survived by her four sons, David Francis, Mark (Laura) Francis and Cooper (Pamela) Francis, all of Southern Pines, and Stanley (Carol) Francis, of Coppell, Texas; 28 grandchildren; and 36 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Joe David.
Through faith, she learned from her heavenly father how to “live well” in her circumstances, and now she has left us an example of how to “die well” at the appointed time. Many of her offspring are also looking for the promised “days without end” to come, wherein lie pleasures forevermore.
Memorials can be made in care of Calvary Memorial Church, 400 Bennett St., Southern Pines.