- Date Of Birth: July 24, 1933
- Date Of Death: August 26, 2021
- State: Arizona
Elizabeth Ann Catto Francis of Scottsdale, Arizona passed away peacefully surrounded by her children on August 26th 2021. Ann was born on July 24th, 1933 in Waco, TX to Charles Gray Catto and Elizabeth Henshaw Catto, and was the oldest of four siblings, Mary (deceased), Jane (deceased), and Charlie (not quite deceased). She attended Waco High school, graduating at age 16. She then enrolled at Southern Methodist University where she studied English Literature. She pledged the Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity in which she was an enthusiastic and active member up until her later years. She met her husband, Dick, on a blind date at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon/Kappa mixer, where he promptly enraged her by telling her he was going to marry her. True to his word, they were married after her graduation from SMU at age 19.
After many happy years living in Montana, Ann and Dick moved to Scottsdale, Arizona where she was extremely active in the Episcopal church, serving on the vestry and as the head of the altar guild for St Barnabas On-The-Desert for many years. Ann enjoyed a wide circle of friends but her pride and joy was always her family, and she never missed a chance to have them gather together. While her culinary skills were always suspect, her kindness, keen intelligence, and compassion served to bind together her family in good times and bad. She enjoyed tennis, needlepoint, reading all the books, fried chicken, pinot grigio, and correcting others’ lapses in English grammar. She did not, however, like boiled okra.
Ann is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Richard “Dick” Francis, as well as her dear son Charles “Chuck” Francis. She is survived by her daughters Elizabeth “Libby” Hansen, Sarah Stuckey, and her sons, Richard “Rick” Francis, and John Francis. She is also survived by her beloved brother, Charles “Charlie” Catto who finished the competition as her favorite sibling, as well as her grandchildren, Elizabeth and Andrew Stuckey, Sarah Finazzo and Maggie Hoffert, Richard Francis III, and Jack and Hayden Francis. Her great grandchildren include Colby, Charlie, and Colin Finazzo, Parker and Sydney Francis, and Henry Hoffert.
