Obituary of Mary Louise Francis Gregory

Mary Louise (Francis) Gregory, 82, passed away peacefully with family by her side at the Terraces of Boise Skilled Nursing, Boise, Idaho, on Tuesday, February 13, 2024 after a long battle with dementia. The older daughter of John Edwin Francis, Sr. and Mary Passerini Francis, ML, as she preferred to be called, was born in Washington, DC on December 2, 1941.  The family, including brothers, John E. Francis, Jr. and Jim Francis, and her sister, Toni Francis, moved to Kansas City, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois before returning to Washington, D.C. and ultimately moving to Arlington, VA.

 

ML made volunteerism a priority and contributed to charitable causes throughout her life starting at the age of ten when she and a school friend made chocolate chip cookies and sold them door-to-door for the March of Dimes. She went on to volunteer at her girls’ schools, for the high school band and orchestra parent organization, for pretrial services at the Fairfax County, Virginia Courthouse, for Youth for Tomorrow for whom she made doll clothes for their fundraising auction, and for her Pinewild Ladies’ Nine Hole group, just to name a few.

 

At age ten, ML began working for income by babysitting for children in her neighborhood.  Her strong work ethic continued throughout her life. At sixteen she took her first secretarial position for the summer at a general contractor’s firm.  At age seventeen she graduated high school and had a summer job with the Department of Agriculture.  After attending William and Mary College for a semester, she decided she preferred secretarial work and put her impressive organizational skills to work as a full-time employee of the Department of Agriculture.  Over the next nine and a half years she worked at the Department of Agriculture, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the United States Post Office Department until she resigned from the position of Administrative Assistant (GS-9) to marry Navy Lieutenant Francis “Frank” C. Gregory on June 22, 1968.

 

While employed by the government, she continued her education through evening classes at the University of Virginia extension in Arlington, Virginia.  After she and Frank married, they moved to Monterey, CA where Frank attended the Naval Postgraduate School and ML took classes at Monterey Peninsula College receiving her Associate of Arts Degree.  

 

Soon after, Frank and ML started their family, welcoming daughters, Christine “Christie” and Catherine “Cate”.  The military family made several moves from Monterey, California to Boston, Massachusetts; Long Beach, California; Naples, Italy; and Virginia Beach, Virginia before landing in Burke, Virginia where they lived for twenty years.  ML spent much of that time raising their girls.  For a short time she worked as a realtor. Later, she worked as an interior designer after earning a degree in the field from Northern Virginia Community College. Frank and ML enjoyed a few pre-retirement years in Clifton, Virginia before retiring completely to Pinehurst, North Carolina.  Following Frank’s death in 2012, ML moved to Jacksonville, Florida and Springfield, Virginia before moving to Boise, Idaho.

 

ML was an accomplished artist.  She enjoyed many crafts over the years such as crochet, decorative wood painting, découpage, macramé, quilting, and of course sewing which she started at age ten and kept up with for most of her life.  She was most known for her beautiful oil paintings.  Their first Christmas together, ML asked Frank for a paint set she had seen at the Navy Exchange.  Thus began a lifelong passion for oil painting.  ML’s paintings hung in their home and still hang in the homes of her daughters.  She even sold a few of her paintings over the years.  ML enjoyed many hobbies including golf (to spend time with Frank), singing, reading and book clubs, tai chi, and taking daily walks. Frank and ML loved to travel. After Frank’s death, ML continued to travel including two cross country road trips with her daughter, Cate, to visit Christie and her family in Idaho.  She completed her bucket list goal to visit all fifty states. She crossed off her final state, Oregon, with a trip through the McDonald’s drive-thru to get one of her beloved Diet Cokes. She also returned to Europe, taking her family on two European cruises with visits to over ten different countries. 

 

The Gregory family was one with strong and close family values.  Frank, ML, Christie, and Cate loved to spend time together, and their circle expanded to include son-in-law, Mike, and then grandchildren, Ava and Adam, to whom they were “Nana and Papa.” Frank and ML loved to entertain and socialize with their large group of friends and family.  They enjoyed regular visits to Frank’s hometown of Philadelphia to spend time with family and planned “FFRs” (Francis Family Reunions) to keep up with ML’s siblings, cousins, and their families.  ML and Frank maintained close ties with Frank’s 6th Company classmates from the US Naval Academy as well as several different friend groups related to Frank’s Naval career and the different places they lived over the years.  Family, friends, and fun were constants in their lives.  Anyone who knew ML knew her special joie de vivre; she loved nothing more than to laugh and make others laugh.  

 

ML was preceded in death by her parents, John and Mary; beloved husband, Frank, in 2012 following his long battle with cancer, and her brothers: John and Jim.  ML is survived by her daughters: Christie Gregory Peitz (of Boise, Idaho) and Cate Gregory (of Arlington, Virginia); grandchildren: Ava Catherine and Adam Michael Peitz; son-in-law, Michael Peitz; sister, Toni Francis; sisters-in-law: Linda Francis and Elizabeth Gregory; brothers-in-law: Richard Gregory and Gary Zarlengo, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews on both the Francis and Gregory sides of the family.

 

Inurnment will be at the U.S. Naval Academy Columbarium, at a date to be determined.  

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org or 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl.17, Chicago, IL 60601.  

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