Bruce Allen FRANCIS

BRUCE ALLEN FRANCIS Bruce was born in Toronto in 1947 and grew up in Hamilton and Grimsby with his parents, Jim and Eileen; and his sisters, Lee and Kim. He studied mechanical engineering from 1965 to 1969 and completed his PhD at the University of Toronto. After having spent a decade touring some of the world's greatest universities for various fellowships and faculty positions, he returned to teach at his alma mater, where he would spend the rest of his career. Bruce met his wife, Jing, at a workshop in Japan in 1989. Their daughter, Lian, was born five years later. Bruce was devoted to both his work and his family. Though his first few years as a professor were challenging (he often recalled that he was too nervous to face his students and would speak while facing and writing on the blackboard), he came to love teaching, and took pride in his methods and pleasure in his interactions with students. He was passionate about mathematics, often praising its beauty to his somewhat perplexed family, and genuinely enjoyed his research and his collaborations with colleagues, who became his greatest friends. He enjoyed writing and instilled in his daughter his fastidiousness for precision and good grammar. His sense of humour was one of his most prized attributes, and he was constantly in search of the rare joke that his wife would actually find funny. He also relished controversial discussions of philosophy, religion, and morality with anyone who would more or less willingly entertain his very direct questions. Bruce faced his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease with courage and dignity until his passing on March 27, 2018. He will be missed and remembered by his wife and daughter, Jingwen and Lian Francis; his sisters and their husbands, Lee and Dave Mayhew, and Kim and Wilf Quigley; his nieces and nephews, Emily (Glover) Hutchinson, Kate (Glover) Berger, Patrick Rowan, and Christian Rowan; and the rest of his loving family. An open house in celebration of Bruce's life will be held on April 28th at Gallery Grill, Hart House, University of Toronto from 2 to 5 p.m., with some remarks and tributes by friends, colleagues, and family at 3 p.m. A memorial website, where those who knew him can share memories and stories of Bruce and the impact he had on their lives, can be found at https://sites.google.com/ view/bruce-francis/home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Michael Garron Hospital, whose staff provided Bruce with exemplary care in his last few weeks.