Francis M. Jamison died on November 1, 2011, at the Gove County Medical Center in Quinter.

Francis was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on April 3, 1924, to Johnny and Ila (Bittner) Jamison. With his parents and sister Doris, they moved to Quinter when Francis was 4 years old. He attended Fairview Elementary School. Francis's brother, Robert Dale, or Bob, born from a previous marriage to Johnny and Marie Maxwell, had not seen each other for 72 years and were reunited in the summer of 2000.

Francis met Carolyn Baker where both attended Quinter High School and they were married November 27, 1941, (Thanksgiving Day), in Smith Center, Kansas. They lived with Francis parents until Francis graduated high school. They'd been married less than a month when Pearl Harbor was bombed. They moved into Quinter while Carolyn finished high school and Francis worked for the Coop driving a gas truck. Following Carolyn's graduation, he enlisted in the Navy, but not passing his physical, they moved to a farm northwest of Quinter. They milked cows and Francis both farmed and worked in town for Carroll Jamison moving houses. Sons, Larry and Galen, were born in Quinter and, as a family, they lived on this farm. Once Larry started to school, they moved back to town, to the current house where they have lived the past 6 decades. Children, John and Reva, were born after their move to town.


In 1952, Francis bought his first jeep trencher and started the Jamison Construction Company. As he built his business, he piped rural communities from eastern Colorado to Salina, KS, and constructed the current water storage system west of Quinter. All 3 boys joined in the business as they grew old enough. They laid irrigation, gas and water lines. In 1968 they bought the Quinter Redi-Mix and Jamison Sand Company which the family helped operate for nearly 14 years. Francis worked all his life. He was a hard-working construction man, farmer, rancher, mechanic, business man, pilot, musician, and all-round fix-it man.


In his quiet gentle manner, he deeply loved and cared for his family. He was the world's best grandpa, providing learning opportunities for the grand kids that most children are never able to experience. Both his children and grandchildren were given freedom to build, construct, drive, shoot, climb, dig and play. Rarely did he discipline, but on those rare occasions when he did, you knew you'd crossed the line and chances are, you never made that mistake again.


Francis and Carolyn celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in November 1991 by celebrating their wedding vows at the Church of the Brethren in Quinter followed by a reception and dinner shared with family and friends. In 2001, they celebrated their 60th anniversary at the Lied Conference Center in Nebraska City, Nebraska, with their family. Their 65th wedding anniversary was shared with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Abilene, Kansas, at the Brookville Hotel in 2006. This year of 2011 sees Francis and Carolyn sharing 70 years of marriage together. What a blessed milestone!

Their son Larry was diagnosed with cancer in 1996 and passed away in December, 1998. Francis made the statement, it just isn't right that death should be in this order. It was one of the hardest times of his and Carolyn's life together, losing a child.


Upon his retirement from farming in 2006, Francis enjoyed growing a vegetable garden and sharing it with others, working with Carolyn in keeping up with the lawn and yard, working at the car wash, helping Galen repair the farm from tornado damage in 2008, including barn roof replacement, just to name a few. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2005 and undergoing major surgery in January 2006, he took up walking daily, stopping in to visit with the Blackwill boys and reading the paper, and checking on the car wash. He spent a great amount of time doing maintenance projects at the Church of the Brethren. The children at the day care were delighted each time he came. He fixed their broken toys and enjoyed visiting with them. You could hear their happy voices call across the room, "Hi Francis!"


Francis sold his airplane when he was 80, but prior to that, he very much enjoyed flying. He would fly over the countryside checking crops, fly grandkids back and forth for visits, he and Carolyn took a trip to Arizona in it and flew on trips to visit their children, he flew passengers to doctor visits or helped others in times of emergencies, he enjoyed taking friends and family on short flights just to enjoy the experience.


He was a long-time member of the Church of the Brethren. He and Carolyn brought their children to church so they could "learn about being a Christian."


Francis had a gentle sense of humor that everyone who knew him enjoyed. He had a no-nonsense manner about him, he just did what he had to do in whatever situation he was put in. Twice he broke his arm over the years, and twice he removed the cast himself. After removing the second cast, folks thought he should have M.D. after his name.


Husband, dad, grandpa, great-grandpa, brother, uncle and friend, Francis was deeply loved and respected by all who knew him. To be married, and happily so, for 70 years, is one of many legacies that he and Carolyn leave to family, friends, and their church family. When asked about the longevity and success of their marriage, Francis says ultimately it is because they "made a promise." Even though they were very young, just 16 and 17, when they married Carolyn says, "I guess we understood we were making a commitment" or jokingly, "maybe we've just always been too busy to imagine not being married. We've lived through a lot of tragedies, but also a lot of fun." Francis will be deeply missed.


He is preceded in death by his parents Johnny and Ila Jamison, sister Doris Rhoades, and son Larry Lee. He is survived by: Wife Carolyn, children Galen and wife Candy, John and wife Karla, Reva and husband John, 10 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and brother Bob and wife Bea, and a host of relatives and friends.


Services for Francis will be 10:30 AM, Saturday, November 5, 2011 in Church of the Brethren at Quinter, KS with Pastor Keith Funk officiating. Interment is in Baker Township Cemetery.

Memorials are suggested to Church of the Brethren and can be sent in care of Schmitt Funeral Home, 901 S Main, Quinter, KS 67752.