Jul 13, 1939 - Apr 14, 2024

Richard Marvin Francisco passed away April 14, 2024, peacefully at home in San Clemente with his family at his side.

Richard was born on July 13, 1939 to Marvin Francisco and Harriet Frost Francisco in Upland, California. When Richard was seven, his mother passed. When Richard was twelve, his father remarried. Within a year, his father passed of a heart attack, leaving his stepmother, Edmarie, to raise Richard and his brother Alan after having raised her two adult daughters, Rosemary and Louise. Richard was forever grateful Edmarie remained in his life as a mother, and grandmother to his children. He attended elementary and middle school in Upland. During his freshman year he moved to Claremont, California where he graduated from Claremont High School in 1957.

Following a year at UC Berkley (which he chose over Stanford, Duke and the Naval Academy) he attended California Polytechnic College – Kellogge Campus in Pomona, California, which was an all-male school at the time. He married Rosemarie Streich Francisco on September 4, 1959. While finishing college, they lived in Riverside, California. Upon graduation they settled in Claremont, California, raising their three children, Douglas, Julie and Christina (Tina).

After graduating with a degree in political science, he began what would become a lifetime career in procurement. The first ten years of his career, he worked in the aerospace industry for Atron, AeroJet, EOS and Beckman Instruments. This was an exciting time to be in aerospace procurement, as this was the decade the USA was racing to the moon.

With the culmination of the moon landing, the aerospace industry downsized. Richard was given the option of a different position within Beckman Instruments or to use their human resources department to find other employment. He chose the latter, subsequently taking a job with Fleetwood Enterprises in Riverside, California on December 23, 1970. One of Richard’s first glimpses into how Fleetwood cared for their employees, occurred when, as a new hire, he received a Christmas turkey the next day. The move to Fleetwood Enterprises turned out to be a fortuitous move.

After a brief time in the training program and as a plant purchasing manager, Richard was moved to the corporate headquarters in Riverside, California where he spent the next 28 years as the Director of  Purchasing for the Motorhome Division and Travel Trailer Division. In this capacity, Richard negotiated contracts with major national and international companies.

In 1973, they moved from Claremont to Riverside. The move allowed Richard to spend more time with his family. Riverside was a wonderful place to raise children. The entire family developed lifelong friendships during their 45 years in Riverside. In 2018, Richard and Rosie moved to San Clemente, California.

One of Richards hobbies was hunting. In earlier years, he hunted pheasant with his brothers-in law in Norther California. Later he changed to hunting waterfowl, joining local duck clubs near Prado Dam and in the San Jacinto Valley. He loved to travel to different hunting locations. Some of his favorites were goose hunting on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and hunting internationally in South America. Other hobbies included cars and travel. Whenever possible, he combined the two. He attended the Indianapolis 500, the Ontario 500 and races at the Riverside International Raceway. He even drove his beloved Pantera at the Riverside Raceway…once! His love of travel was often shared with his beloved Rosie both internationally and within the USA. They visited many of the states and Canadian Provinces. Highlights were traveling with friends, visiting National Parks and seeing Triple Crown winner Affirmed win the Kentucky Derby.

Although Richard loved hunting, car racing and travel, his greatest love was his family. Richard is survived by his wife of 64 years, Rosemarie Francisco, his son Douglas Francisco (Pari), daughters Julie McBride (Todd) and Christina Gaffney (Mark); his “five outstanding grandsons” Chad Francisco (Alec), Tucker Francisco, Sean Gaffney, Brian Gaffney, and Ryan McBride; his brothers-in-law Otto Streich and Terry Hodges; and his sisters-in-law Jeanette Streich Bosson, Judy Lobb Plummer and Dee Francisco. He is also survived by many nephews and nieces, who were all greatly loved by their “Uncle Rich”. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, two step sisters, six brothers-in-law and four sisters-in-law.

A private, family only, service will be held. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Socks 4 Heros (SCMCSG) (https://www.socks4heroes.com/) or a charity of your choice.