Francis Hall Van Buskirk

FRANCIS HALL VAN BUSKIRK Francis Van Buskirk, also known affectionately as "Van", passed away at age 86 at his longtime home in Santa Fe on February 7, 2008. Francis was a member of Battery C, 200th Coast Artillery, which was sent to Clark Field in the Philippines in World War II. An observer on his anti-aircraft unit's height finder, Francis was among the first to spot Japanese bombers as they approached Clark Field hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He is a survivor of the Bataan Death March, as well as three and one-half years in the Camp O'Donnell, Cabanatuan and Omuta prison camps in the Philippines and Japan. Francis is survived by his wife of 62 years, Jeri, who was an army nurse at Bruns Military Hospital when Francis returned to Santa Fe after the war. He is also survived by daughters: Carol Sinton and Sue Van Buskirk; sons: Ron, Gary, and Tom Van Buskirk; in addition to seven grandchildren: Pam, Taylor, Emily, Brandon, Ashlee, Andrew, and Elizabeth. Born on a ranch in Texico, NM on April 1, 1921, Francis graduated from Santa Fe High School in 1939. After returning from the war, he married Jeri and went to work building homes with Allen Stamm. A few years later, he started his own construction company, "Van's Construction", where he designed and built hundreds of custom homes in the Santa Fe area over four decades. When asked how he dealt with the memories of prison camps and hard labor, Francis would reply: "In our times we did not expect so much. We did what we said we would do, if we survived the prison camps â€" settle down, get married, raise a family and educate our kids". He did all of that and more. The values and love he shared with us will endure forever. A Visitation will be held Thursday, February 14, 2008, 12:30 p.m. followed by a Memorial Service at 1 p.m. at McGee Memorial Chapel. Interment will follow at Santa Fe National Cemetery with full military honors. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the "Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund", a 100% national charity that assists the families of fallen veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The website address is FallenHeroesFund.org, and you can make your donation on-line. For checks, please mail to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, West 46th Street & 12th Avenue, New York, NY 10036. Thank you for supporting our veterans and their families. Arrangements are under the direction of Berardinelli Family Funeral Service 1399 Luisa Street Santa Fe, NM 87505 (505) 984-8600