RUSSELL DAILY NEWS, 25 September 2001
Obituary of LOWELL ALEXANDER "ALEX" FRANCIS

Lowell Alexander "Alex" Francis, 91, former Hays resident, died Tuesday, September 25, 2001, at the St. John Rest Home.

He was born January 16, 1910, at Dunbar, Nebraska, the son of Viscount a. and Ella Warnock Francis. He graduated from Oberlin High School in 1931, Fort Hays State University in 1935, and the University of Missouri in 1940 with a master's degree in physical education.

He taught in Mankato, Holton, Oberlin, and Abilene. He was a U.S. Army Air Force captain during World War II.


He married Helen Dannefer in June 1935 at Hays. She died June 16, 1992.

He became track and field coach and assistant football coach at FHSU in 1947, serving 34 years. He was named NAIA Track and Field Coach of the
Year in 1979.

He coached several amateur athletic union teams that toured in Europe. In 1961, he prepared the South Vietnamese Athletic Team for the Pan Asian Games. He was assistant tract and field coach for the U.S. team at the Pan American Games in Canada in 1971.

He served as head coach for the U.S. Team in the 1974 Pan American Games in Columbia. In 1972, he and his wife received the FHSU Alumni Achievement Award.

In 1978, he was inducted into the Kansas State High Schools Activities Association's Hall of Fame. In 1993, FHSU named the newly refinished track at Lewis Field the Alex Francis Track.

Survivors include: two sons, Michael, Edwardsburg, Mich., and John, Pahrump, Nev.; a brother, Sam, Springfield, Mo.; seven grandchildren; and a
great-grandchild.

He was preceded in death by eight brothers and sisters.

No service is planned.
Memorials are suggested to the Alex Francis Track and Field Scholarship Fund of FHSU. Cline's Mortuary of Hays is in charge of arrangements.

 (Memorial Service)