Francis Lewis Underwood

Francis Underwood, age 101, passed away peacefully on February 7th, 2025, at the family home in Beavercreek Ohio. He was born on September 27th, 1923, in Berwick, Illinois. He graduated from Avon Community High School in 1941, and enlisted in the Navy in June, six months prior to the Pearl Harbor attack.

Francis served his country proudly as a naval aviator in WWII, first flying submarine patrols in a PBY, and later flying C-54 military transport planes from Oakland, to Honolulu and on to Guam. He flew many round trips, carrying both supplies and personnel. He left active duty in 1946 with a rank of lieutenant, but continued in the Navy Reserve until retiring in 1983. 

He met his beautiful wife, June, in a roller-skating rink in Columbus Ohio, where he was attending training at the Curtis Aircraft Factory. They married in 1945.

Given his love of aviation, after the war Francis and June decided to move to southern California, the center of a booming aircraft industry. He took advantage of the GI bill to attend Northrup University and earned an aeronautical engineering degree. In 1949 he went to work for North American Aviation (later to become Rockwell International). Over the course of a 34-year engineering career he helped design many civilian and military aircraft, including the DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, F-100, XB-70, B-1, and the Space Shuttle. 

 Francis and June raised their family (two sons) in the Los Angeles suburbs of Torrance and Palos Verdes. Francis was a dedicated and loving husband and father. There were many memorable family vacations to National Parks, the Canadian Rockies, and Hawaii. Francis was also an avid outdoorsman. He organized many backpacking trips into the Sierra Nevada mountains, including one climb to the top of Mount Whitney (14,505 feet).

Along with hiking, Francis loved bicycle racing. He entered national races in California, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. He won four National Championships over the years. His last race was the Ohio Senior Olympics at age 93. He won gold in his age category. 

 Francis was preceded in death by his parents Frank Underwood and Clara Lewis, his beloved wife June, his brother Chester, and his sister Charlotte. Francis is survived by his two loving sons, Timothy (Sharon) and Thomas (Jane), and his three grandchildren, Rachel, Christopher, and Sarah.

 A visitation for friends and family will be held at 3 pm on Thursday, February 20th at Newcomer Funeral Home in Beavercreek (3380 Dayton Xenia Rd.) . A funeral service will follow at 4 pm. He will be laid to rest at Dayton National Cemetery on a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. 

To view the livestream of Francis' service please click here.