cover story
Jack Francis Fond du Lac retiree continues and enjoys glove relacing business
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Story by Lois A. Pflum I Photos by Doug Raflik/Action Reporter Media
ith a life-long love of sports, “people person” Jack Francis, 70, of Fond du Lac, has found his niché in life. Long before high school, Jack learned the value of a good work ethic by having a paper route and working at Frazier’s Restaurant as a bus boy. After graduating from St. Mary Springs Academy in 1962, he wasn’t sure what direction his life would be headed. “As a kid, I was very shy,” he said. “In September 1962, Herb Niederehe (whom eventually became president of the National Exchange Bank), approached me and offered me a position at the
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bank as a messenger. After a while, I advanced to teller, and eventually made it to head teller, and was in charge of teller operations.” During that period, Jack began making a lot of friends through the banking experience, and his confidence began to grow. He credits the late Herb Niederehe and the late Miles Phalen as sort of mentors in his banking career of almost 22 years. “I enjoyed my work at the bank, and they both were fantastic. They helped me so much,” said Francis. It was through friends and his love of baseball
— which he inherited from his father, who was a very good baseball player back in the 1930s — that Jack began to coach Little League baseball in Fond du Lac, which he enjoyed doing for about five years. After high school, Jack was really involved in softball and volleyball, and he recalled in his early 20s, he was playing softball five times a week. With his love of sports, an opporunity opened up to become athletic director at Sacred Heart School, as a volunteer. He served in that position for about 10 years and credits that time as another learning experience.
AUGUST 2014 | ACTI