Joan Elizabeth Francis

Portsmouth, RI - Joan Brown Francis, of 222 Lawrence Drive, Portsmouth, RI, formerly of Tiverton, Rhode Island and Spring Lake, NJ, died Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at St. Annes Hospital in Fall River, MA. She was the wife of the late Leon W. Francis, Jr., who died on Sunday, January 11. Born in Spring Lake, NJ, she was the daughter of the late Edgar Brown and Marguerite Allgor Brown. Joan was a school nurse at the HW Mountz Elementary School in Spring Lake, NJ for 25 years. She was also very active with the St. Andrews United Methodist Church Womens group in NJ, and was a longtime member of the Order of Eastern Star. She loved writing journals, reading, scrapbooking and spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She is survived by her children, Robert L. Francis and his wife Valerie Hanna of Freehold, NJ, and Karen Francis Meyer and her husband John of Portsmouth, RI, her grandchildren, Courtney Francis and Lauren Francis of Freehold, NJ, Kristin Meyer Graham and her husband Jeffrey of Savannah, GA and Steven R. Meyer of Boston, MA, her great grandchildren, Ashlee and Elisabeth Graham of Savannah, GA. A Memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 24, 2009, at 1:00pm in Portsmouth United Methodist Church, 2732 East Main Road, Portsmouth, RI. A memorial service will also be held at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, Spring Lake, NJ, at a later date. Burial will be private. Donations in her memory may be made to Portsmouth United Methodist Church, Worship Committee, 2732 East Main Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871 or to United Methodis Womens Missions, St. Andrews United Methodist Church, 4th and West Lake Avenue, Spring Lake, NJ 07762.