Kevin Francis, a U.S. Army veteran and lifelong Teamster who spent seven years on the Downers Grove police force and coached Little League and girls basketball, has died.
He graduated from Kelly High School in 1968. He served in the Army from 1969 to 1971 and attained the rank of specialist 5th class. He served seven years on the Downers Grove police force, and he was a skilled truck driver and a Teamster his whole working life.
He was named for St. Francis of Assisi, a tradition he passed on to his son for his confirmation at St. Mary of Gostyn.
He was a Little League champion and later a coach, a turkey bowl and Burroughs football captain, and an assistant girls basketball coach. He shared his love of sports with his children and granddaughter.
His family remembers him as generous, loving and wise, a man who brought frequent laughs to family gatherings. It brought them joy, they wrote, to see him as a grandpa.
He is survived by his wife and lifelong love, MaryAnn (née Jerak); his children, Jill Ann (Terry) and Mitchell Vernon; his granddaughter, Sofia; his siblings, Ron (Anne), Craig, Mitchell Jr. and Jamie; and his brothers- and sisters-in-law, Donna (Ron), Jack (Jo), Ron (Sue) and Peg (John).
He was preceded in death by his sibling Judie and his brother-in-law Jack.
Visitation: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, 4 to 8 p.m. at Damar-Kaminski Funeral Home & Crematorium, 7861 S. 88th Ave., Justice, Illinois.
Funeral: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. Prayers and procession begin at 8:45 a.m. from the funeral home to St. Mary of Gostyn Church, 445 Prairie Ave., Downers Grove, Illinois, for 10 a.m. Mass.
Interment: Holy Sepulchre, Alsip, Illinois.