Dale Francis

Dale Francis

Dale McAllister Francis, age 82, died February 2, 2018 after a yearlong battle with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  He was born in Ogden Utah, February 22, 1935 and was raised in Morgan Utah.

During his high school years at Morgan High, he met his future wife, Joyce Richins while playing the French horn in the high school band.  After high school, he attended Weber College, joined the Utah Air National Guard primarily as a cryptographer and then served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in the South Australia Mission.  Upon completing his two-year mission, he married his high school sweetheart four days afterwards in the Salt Lake Temple.  Soon thereafter he attended the University of Utah and completed his Business degree.

He started his career at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah as a programmer and worked his way up to be VP of Data Processing.   In 1975, he took a role with Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska as a Senior VP of Operations and moved his family from Salt Lake City to Seattle.  After four years he took a role with King County Medical Blue Shield.   He was later promoted to the role of CEO and President and during that tenure he helped form the alliance which is now known as Regence Blue Shield.   During this time, he also served on the National Board of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and as a member of the Shoreline and Seattle Rotary Clubs. He retired at the age of 62.

Dale served in the LDS Church as a gospel doctrine instructor, elders quorum president, bishop, stake high counselor and as a Seattle Temple ordinance worker. He also loved serving with the Boy Scouts in a variety of ways, as a leader, merit badge counselor, Baden-Powell youth leadership trainer, and as a Wood Badge staff instructor.  He and his wife Joyce served as missionary companions in the Washington Seattle Mission, the Washington Everett Mission and the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission, where he served in the mission presidency.

His joys in life were spending time with his wife and family.   As a young father, Dale would take his family boating, with Lake Powell and the San Juan Islands as favorite destinations. He loved to take vacations to Hawaii and Europe.  Cycling was a big part of his life and on a clear day, Dale could be found riding his bicycle. He particularly loved the country roads in the Morgan valley.  Dale loved cars and he loved to customize and detail them.  He found those hours detailing cars a good opportunity to counsel and guide his sons. Dale had a love for history and the scriptures and enjoyed sharing his insights and knowledge with anyone willing to sit and listen.  He particularly liked the preparation of a church Sunday School lesson or talk.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Joyce, his four sons, Mark (Denise), David (Debra), Kurt (Stacie), Dan (Tracy), 18 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and his brothers Ralph (Charla) and Karl (Betty). He was preceded in death by his parents Walter Dale and Vilate and sisters, Joan and Patsy.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am, Friday, February 9, 2018 at the LDS Chapel located at 4275 Bountiful Blvd., Bountiful, Utah.  Friends may visit family, Thursday, February 8, 2018 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm at Lindquist’s Bountiful Mortuary, 727 N. 400 E. Bountiful, Utah and Friday from 9:30-10:30 at the Church prior to services. Interment will be at the South Morgan Cemetery, Morgan, UT.