Richard Arden Francis

Richard Francis passed away on March 26th, 2025 at the age of 86. He had lived a full and successful life. The 10th of 11 kids in a Minnesota farm family, he was born in 1938 and grew up driving tractors, milking cows, and playing high school football. He first dated his wife, Helen Dubbels Francis, in high school and they were married in 1959. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1966— where he was in the top third of his class and editor of the Law Review —and moved his young family to Colorado for his first job in a prestigious Denver firm. He then began his own successful practice and became a well-known real estate lawyer in the region. In the early 1990s, he took a job as vice president for the Land Title Guarantee Company and worked there until his retirement in 1999. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed outdoor exercise of every kind: hiking, skiing, running, bicycling; his physical fitness was a point of pride for him. He was also a devoted husband and father. He taught both his children to ski as young kids, took them hiking all over the Rocky Mountain front range, taught them to ride bikes, and took everyone on many family bike rides. Despite his busy schedule, he left work early two days a week for most of a year to be the coach for the local girls’ soccer team, because he wanted his daughter to have the same sports opportunities as boys back in the 1970s. He and his son started running 10k races together in the 1970s—and his son became a dedicated runner as a result. After spending so many years on work and family, he and Helen had an amazing retirement together, spending winters for the past 25 years in their condo on the Pacific coast of Mexico and traveling often to Europe and other exciting places.

He leaves behind his wife of almost 66 years, Helen Francis, and his children Linda and Greg Francis, as well as son-in-law Richard Adams and daughter-in-law Leepoh Francis, plus five grandchildren: Paige, Nathaniel, and Anna Adams, and Victor and Rhys Francis. He goes now to join his parents and all his siblings. He was widely loved and will be missed. Per his request, there will be no memorial service.