Francis Sudbeck
Federal Way, Wash. — Francis Sudbeck, 71, died April 3, 2007, at home with his family after a battle with cancer
Funeral Services were April 10 at St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church, Federal Way, with burial at Tahoma National Cemetery.
Arrangements were under the direction of Yahn and Son Funeral Home, Auburn, Wash.
Francis was born July 19, 1935, in Laurel, where he attended elementary and high school. In 1953, upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Navy and served until July 1956 in the Pacific. In 1956, he started college at Wayne State College, Wayne. He met his wife, Marilyn Allstot while attending college. She became a flight attendant for United Airlines in San Francisco, so he moved to San Francisco and also worked for United Airlines. They were married Sept. 21, 1957, at St. Catherine's Parish, Burlingame, Calif. He returned to college in 1958 and received a BA in industrial arts and elementary physical education from Wayne State College. His first teaching position was in Aurora, Colo., as an elementary P.E. teacher. In 1968, he received a master's degree in school administration and accepted a position as an elementary principal for the Lake View-Auburn School District in Iowa. From there, he moved with his family to Steamboat Springs, Colo., to be the elementary principal from 1976-1978. In 1978, he accepted a position as an elementary principal in the Oakland School District, Oakland, Ore., until 1986, at which time he and his wife both accepted teaching positions in Southern California where they spent the next 13 years as special education teachers. He retired in 1999 and they moved to Federal Way, Wash.
He enjoyed working with children, and helping to make others laugh and feel better about even through his struggle with cancer. He enjoyed reading the Pickles' comic strip, collecting Charlie Brown and Snoopy memorabilia, finding a bargain at a thrift shop, watching the birds build their nest under our eaves each spring, playing a few rounds of golf, and sitting on a bench overlooking the water.
His family was his primary purpose in life and he was proud of all his children and their achievements in life. He loved to travel. He and his wife, Marilyn, finished seeing the last of the fifty states except Alaska on his final journey, which was interrupted in Albuquerque, N.M. where he spent 23 days in the hospital at which time he was diagnosed with cancer.
He is survived by his wife, Marilyn Sudbeck; his four children, daughter, Major Mary Jo Vernon and her husband Scott, Fort Lewis, Wash., and their children, Michael Henderson, and his wife, Jennie, Brian Henderson and Aylah Vernon and stepchildren, April and Jared Vernon; son, Commander Kevin Sudbeck, and his wife, Helen, Corpus Christi, Texas, their children, James, Chip, Haleigh, and Kathryn; son, Charles “Chip” Sudbeck and his wife, Laura Minato, Portland, Ore., and their child, Lili Ana Sudbeck Minato; daughter, Amy Sudbeck, Bremerton, Wash.; brother, Harold Sudbeck, Laurel; and several nieces and nephews in Nebraska and Wyoming.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Isadore and Veronica Sudbeck; and his sister, Marlene “Babe” Kirkland Adelsberger .
In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to the Francis Sudbeck Scholarship Fund at Wayne State College.