Francis Fredrick Mills
July 11, 1943 - August 22, 2021
Francis Fredrick Mills, 78, Leavenworth, Kansas, passed away peacefully at his home, with loving family at his bedside, on Sunday, August 22, 2021.He was born July 11, 1943, at Leavenworth, Kansas, the son of Roy Francis and Dorothy K. (Wise) Mills. He graduated Leavenworth High School in 1961. He was a very good athlete and participated in all major sports including, swimming, football, baseball, track, basketball, bowling, boxing, and wrestling from an early age. He umpired and coached baseball teams for the City of Leavenworth as a teenager. Francis started working at Davis Funeral Chapel at the age of 14 years old. He later graduated from Kansas City Kansas Junior College, Kansas City, Kansas in 1963 and then Commonwealth College of Mortuary Arts and Sciences in Houston, Texas in 1965. After becoming a licensed mortician, he remained in Leavenworth, Kansas until moving to Horton, Kansas in 1971. He worked as an embalmer and funeral director with various funeral homes in Topeka, Kansas until 1985. In 1985, Francis became the Funeral Home and Crematory Inspector for the Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts. He was a loving husband for 58 years to Roxie (Hooper) Mills. They were married in 1963. Francis is survived by his wife, a daughter, Debra Babe (Norman) Johnson; a granddaughter, Corey Mills; three great grandsons, Francis F. Mills, Otis T. Mills and Nicholis R. Mills; two sisters, Darlene Nelson, Carolyn (Bill) Conway; and nine nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, a son, Jason F. Mills and a sister, Delores Fevurly. Francis was a past Master of the Horton Masonic Lodge, a Boy Scout Leader, President of the Horton Lions Club and a member and treasurer of the Reorganized Church of Later Day Saints in Horton. He had a beautiful singing voice and was a gifted artist. These talents were passed down to his granddaughter Corey and his great grandsons. He loved to dance and was good at it. Francis was an excellent handyman doing electrical, painting, plumbing, carpentry and just about everything. His passions were reading western books and watching western movies. Francis loved life, visiting and joking around with people. He enjoyed his job and those he was fortunate enough to work with. Most of all, he loved his family, sports, traveling and being outside in the sunshine.