Angela Francis, 83

Angela (Howcroft) Francis, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was born on Sept. 8, 1932, to Norman Winter Howcroft and Jennie (Jenkins) Howcroft in Gateshead, County Durham, England. Angela died peacefully on Aug. 8, 2016, at the Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital in Post Falls, Idaho, with her daughter and son-in-law by her side.

Angela was an only child and spent most of her childhood in Alnmouth, a coastal village in the northeast of England. She attended the Duchess’s School in nearby Alnwick and went on to graduate from the University of Durham.

Angela taught in Dijon, France, for several years after finishing her studies. She then taught French at Wintringham Girls’ Grammar School in Grimsby, England. In 1962, Angela participated in a teaching exchange with a French teacher from Chillicothe High School in Chillicothe, Ohio. As Angela disembarked in New York from the ship that brought her to the United States for the first time, she was interviewed for television by Barbara Walters, who was then a reporter for “The Today Show.” Angela and her fellow exchange teachers also had an audience with President John F. Kennedy.

While teaching in Chillicothe, Angela met David Francis. Angela and David were married on Aug. 12, 1964. They lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, where David was finishing his studies. On Aug. 19, 1966, Angela gave birth to their fraternal twin daughters, Katherine Anne and Sarah Jane. Angela was a substitute teacher and was active in St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. In 1990, David was transferred to Minneapolis with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Angela and David lived in New Hope, Minn., where Angela worked part time as a seamstress and was active in the Church of the Epiphany and the Association of Children’s Health Care Minneapolis, Rumpelstiltskin Chapter.

In 2003, Angela and David moved to Coeur d’Alene to be near daughter Kate and her new family. Angela was very active in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where she served on the Altar Guild and was a member of St. Luke’s Guild and the Blankets for Kids ministry. Angela was always busy doing alterations and custom sewing projects for family and friends. Angela also was an active member of P.E.O. Chapter AG, where she cultivated loving friendships with her many P.E.O. sisters.

Angela was widowed in 2011 and lost daughter Sarah in 2015. Angela is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Kate and Mike Dolan of Coeur d’Alene; grandchildren Clare and Daniel; daughter-in-law Louisa Read Ernst of Sebastopol, Calif.; and brother-in-law Bob Francis of Dayton, Ohio.

The memorial service and inurnment will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 501 Wallace Ave., Coeur d’Alene.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Angela’s memory to the Lupus Foundation of America (www.lupus.org) or the Kootenai Humane Society (www.kootenaihumanesociety.com). You may visit Angela’s online memorial and sign her guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.