Francis Viola (Dishman) Shofner

Francis Viola Dishman Shofner was born 12/4/1926 to Houston C. Dishman and wife Goldie Fields Dishman in Houston. Many thought Mom’s first name was Frances with an “e”, but legally it was Francis. She moved to Beaumont, then went to medical school in Galveston where she became a Registered Medical Technologist. She married Jack Shofner Oct. 18, 1949. Jack and Francis lived at the Gaylynn Apartments, where they had 5 children: Frank, Peggy, Martin, Sarah and Walter. Eventually they bought an old house and had it renovated and moved to Richard Drive at Woodland Acres in north Beaumont.

Francis started her career in the laboratory at Baptist Hospital in Beaumont. After several years, she resigned and began working at St. Elizabeth Hospital. After leaving “Saint E,” she ran the lab at the VA clinic in Beaumont, where she retired in her 60s. Shortly after retiring from the Beaumont clinic, they called her back to run the VA clinic in Nederland, where she retired “for real” when she was 80. Francis was widowed when Jack died in March, 1983 of lung cancer.

Mom always had a positive attitude. She tried to help others when she could. An example was one time when she noticed a boy hanging around outside whenever she dropped her kids off at the YMCA. She bought him a membership at the “Y.” She spent many years at the Richard Drive house working on her amazing gardens. She frequently had to deal with her nemesis, pesky squirrels.

It was a blow when daughter Sarah passed away in March 2010. Sarah was survived by her husband of many years, Gene McGown. Even though Francis was 95, she never stopped being a mother. Whenever one of her kids had trouble, she would try to find ways to help. Health problem? A lot of those can be solved through diet, she’d say, and then print an internet’s worth of proof to back it up. In recent years, she mostly eliminated meat from her diet, although she would still enjoy the occasional gumbo or fried shrimp.

Her move to Wimberley almost two years ago seemed to open up sides of her that had not been seen for quite some time. At the house on Champions Circle, then at her apartment, she was always coming up with ideas to garden and landscape, and creating crafty, fun things. At her apartment, she quickly made friends, spending her mealtimes talking about all manner of things. She also took advantage of the craft classes and field trips they offered. She even played bingo, winning twice on her first time in.

Francis always saw the best in people. When hearing criticism that someone fell short, she would say, "They are doing the best they can with what they have." She will be missed.

Francis passed away May 21 in Wimberly from heart failure. She is survived by daughter Peggy and husband James Truitt; son Chance and his partner David Tijerina; son Martin and wife Terri, their sons Sean Drumm and his partner Nick Blaise, and James Nicholas Drumm and his partner Andrea Campbell; son Walter and wife Diane, their children Katherine, Daniel and his wife Julia; son Frank and wife Rosalia, their daughter Emma Foulkes and her wife Petrina, and their son Rai Foulkes.

Funeral service and reception will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 25 at Earthman Resthaven Funeral Home at 13102 North Fwy, Houston TX 77060, 281-443-0063.