Francis Foley
Alton | Save
Francis J. Foley passed away on December 14, 2020, at 9:17 pm at Alton Memorial Hospital.
Born in East St. Louis, IL on May 17, 1924, the son of the late Francis T. and Lucille B. (Gardner) Foley of Fairview Heights, IL.
He married the late Jeanne Fischer on May 4, 1957, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Alton. She passed away on January 27, 1972.
He attended Holy Angels Grade School in E. St. Louis from 1930- 1938. He then attended Central Catholic High School in E. St. Louis from 1938- 1942, where he played baseball for four years becoming the Team Captain. Football and soccer and participated in the annual boxing tournament for three years. Francis graduated June 7, 1942. During the summers of '42 and '43 he played 'Muny' Baseball in E. St. Louis. In September on '42 he enrolled at St. Louis University. Francis served his country during WWII in the Army Air Force, having applied and been accepted into the Pilot Training Program in 1943. After completing his primary basic and advanced flying schools, Francis was commissioned 2 Lt. Pilot at Stockton, CA. He was sent to B-17, Flying Fortress, training at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, NV. Graduating the same time as Germany's Surrender, he was kept there and trained to pilot B-24 Liberators. Upon graduation, Francis was sent to B-29, Super Fortress, flying school at Lowery Field in Denver, CO. While in flight training, they dropped the atomic bombs ending the war. Released from active-duty October 6, 1945, during which time he took and passed the Commercial Pilots License from the FAA in Denver. In addition, Francis continued to serve his country in the Air Force Reserve from June 15, 1958, until September 15, 1978, retiring from the 9699th Air Reserve Squadron as a Major. His awards included the Army Good Conduct Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, WWII Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with silver Hourglass and the Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon with four oak leaves cluster.
In January 1946 Francis enrolled I the University of Illinois, transferring to Washington University in St. Louis in June of that year, graduating with a BS of Business Administration in June of 1949. After some short employments on the West Coast Francis Returned to the area and joined the Univac Corp. in June of '52, spending 32 years as an accountant and representative at 20 years as a manager, retiring June 1, 2005.
Francis was a 4th Degree and 72yr member of the Belleville Council of the Knights of Columbus, a 20 yr. member of the Missouri Reserve Officer Assn. Serving as Historian, and the Bloomington American Legion Post.
Francis is survived by a niece, Marsha L. Winning; three great nephews, Adam, Aaron (Rachael), and Andrew Winning; and two great great nieces, Cloey and Sophie Winning.
In addition to his parents and wife, he was preceded in death by a sister, Margret L. Winning, and a nephew, Robert F. Winning.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at St. Mary's Catholic Church at 10:00 am.
Burial will take place at Mt. Carmel Catholic cemetery in Belleville, IL.
Memorials may be made to St. Mary's Catholic Church in Alton, or St. Judes Hospital.
condolences and guest book can be found at www.eliaskallalandschaaf.com
Elias, Kallal & Schaaf Funeral Home
