Anne Francis

It's simply impossible to sum up all that Anne Francis was in a few short paragraphs; she was an extraordinary woman who lived an extraordinary life. She was wonderful, loving, brave, strong, wise, adventurous, strong-willed, and meticulous. She survived war, emigrated from her home in the U.K all the way to Canada where she met and married John Francis, co-founded and ran a very successful business, traveled the world extensively, had a wonderful son, daughter in law as well as three beautiful grandchildren whom she adored.

She spent a lot of glorious days, weeks and months overseas with her extensive family in Ireland and England whom she adored and many winters soaking in the Cayman sunshine. She carried a strength with her in everything that she did and pushed those around her to always be their best selves. She had a hand in shaping the lives of so many people around her and we will proudly carry her legacy with us forever. She taught us to be the best person that we can be, to embrace the joy and happiness in our lives and to share that with the people that we love.

She will be dearly missed and fondly remembered by the many people whose lives she touched. Our entire family hopes that she and John will watch over and guide us as we continue to progress through our lives.

“How lucky are we, to have had something that made saying goodbye so difficult”

From Your Loving Grandchildren

A Note From Katie

We are three of the luckiest grandchildren ever. We have been blessed with many happy and healthy years with our beautiful Granny. We have laughed with her, cried with her, and made countless memories with her. She enriched our lives at every turn; she encouraged us to see the world, to spend time with her beautiful overseas family, to dine out on a regular basis and never stop educating ourselves.

We are thankful for every moment we spent with our Granny, and we will always carry a piece of her with us. She took our constant teasing and jokes in stride and loved to drop well timed one liners that would have us all rolling with laughter. She had the geography of the entire world memorized, she served ketchup and bagged chips in Waterford crystal bowls, and she felt that leaving grape stems in the bag was a cardinal sin. She loved dover sole, a nice glass of Chardonnay and a long soak in the Cayman Sea. She stashed British chocolates in her bottom drawer, was the ultimate puzzle and word game master, and gave the best hugs in the world. She was one of our greatest teachers and greatest friends.

As much as we adored having our Granny with us, we knew she missed her husband dearly and wished to be reunited with him. We wish her all the luck in the world on her journey home to Nonno and the next time we are all sitting on the Cayman beach watching the sun dip into the sea, we’ll raise our glasses to a life well lived and a woman well loved.

A Note From Matthew

Through us all, the memory of a spectacular grandmother, mother, sister, wife, aunt, cousin, mother-in-law, and most of all a friend, will continue to spread light into the lives of the ones we love around us. She lives on in spirit within us, whether it's enjoying a lemon sorbet, a perfectly blended G&T, watching the sunset dip into the ocean or watching Wimbledon. Granny was a lady with a passion and zest for life like no other; a fire burned within her to maximize every day and enjoy every moment.

Granny was the strongest believer in a place for everything and everything in its place. Given her extensive schooling in various strange but very useful life topics... sewing, nursing, writing, microwave, upholstery, and many others; she had the tools for any job and always knew exactly where they were.

Her resilient strong British attitude towards life taught us all so many lessons and always pushed us to be our very best selves. She pushed us to have big goals, travel the world and do the things we are all so passionate about.

I am fortunate to have too many excellent memories to share but now it's time to say goodbye as she takes a first class flight (truly first class, I'm talking about flight attendants carving roast beef down the aisle first class. None of this 21st century "first class”, I mean 1970’s “first Class", when you were treated like royalty) all the way to heaven where she and Nonno are walking the Cayman beach together once again.

Cheers to life that had so much to celebrate; may we all be half as fortunate to live a life like she did.

A Note From Chelsea

Gran was my hero and best friend. She meticulously taught me to make the best pasta sauce and pavlova, that silk ironing needs to first be frozen, and to never throw away a good button. I will cherish every cup of coffee I had with her in many parts of the world; she was the best conversationalist. I will continue to people watch, keep an open mind, and drink exclusively French press coffee for her everyday. She is a huge part of me, and I will carry her and her legacy with me forever, and for that, and every single day I got to spend with her, I am so so grateful.