Tomas Francis

Tom was born on April 5th, 1940 to Edith and Frank Fendon (Fendoni) at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated class of 1957 from Mendel Catholic High School in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago. He married Judy soon after and joined the United States Air Force, becoming lieutenant and a meteorologist in Da Nang, Vietnam. Judy and Tom had two daughters together. After retiring from service, Tom became a US postal worker where he met Debby. They married and had two daughters together. He continued serving the US government as a civilian meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tom retired in the early 1990s when he met Natalie. Natalie became his companion for over three decades, and they married in 2023.

Tom read, explored, and was passionate about existentialism, phenomenology, psychology, and was a 40+ year practicing Buddhist. A perennial student, curious philosopher, lover of words and ideas, he never shied away from a good discussion, no matter how controversial. Tom was foundational to his Café Socrates where members met at the Charlotte County Library to discuss (dare one say, argue) about complex and challenging topical, theoretical, theological, and philosophical issues of shared interest. Tom deeply treasured this group, and it filled his retirement with stimulating purpose.

Tom’s days were filled with reading, meditating, preparing talks for Café Socrates, watching Matlock & M*A*S*H, eating Natalie’s delicious meals, and watching the birds and wild cats from their lanai at home. The son of depression-era parents, Tom was passionate about savings and he taught everyone he loved how to clip a coupon and rake in BOGO grocery savings. Over the course of his life he played racquet ball, baseball, and squash, but he never neglected his almost daily walks which kept his min