J. (John) Francis Angier died at the tender age of 97 at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa, FL., on July 27, 2020. Prior to living in Florida, he resided in Addison, Newport and Williston. Due to the pandemic, it was not possible to have an open funeral service until now. The celebration of his life will finally take place on Saturday, June 25, 11 a.m., at Saint Ambrose Church in Bristol, VT., followed by a brief interment service with military honors at the nearby St. Joseph Cemetery before the reception at the parish hall.

Francis was married to Madeleine Bourdon Angier for 65 years, until her death on December 25, 2011. They lived most of their lives in the town of Addison, VT., where they farmed and raised five sons, John, Michael, Phillip, Pierre and Thomas, who died in 2015.

Francis was a veteran of WWII and also served in the Vermont National Guard. In his later years, he wrote his best-selling book Ready or Not: Into the Wild Blue about growing up on a hardscrabble farm during the depression, becoming a B-17 pilot in WWII, surviving his bomber being shot down over Nazi Germany, being held as a POW until the end of the war and his participation in the Cold War while serving in the National Guard. Please join us on June 25th to celebrate the life of one of the last surviving members of “the Greatest Generation.”