John P France

John P. France of Louisville, OH passed away on Tuesday, December 31, 2024 surrounded by his loving family. He was born on July 10, 1946 to Maurice and Rita (Zwick) France.

From an early age, John learned the trait of being a hard worker and doing a job well. This carried on throughout his life as he began working in the family carpet business as a teen and went on to have a 30-year career as a steel worker at Timken Steel. Upon retiring, he went back to work fixing exercise equipment for the YMCA of Central Stark County and afterwards becoming the Property Manager at the North Canton and Eric Snow YMCAs.

His work ethic also shone through as he spent years updating and remodeling his family’s home and keeping it well maintained. He shared his “jack of all trades” talents with his wife and their 3 daughters; all becoming quite adept at tackling any household problem that would arise. He was a tremendous husband, father and grandfather who loved his family well and took immeasurable pride in watching them in all their school, church and sporting activities. 

John kept God first in his life and he was showered by many blessings throughout his 78 years on this earth. He instilled his love of God and the importance of family to his children and grandchildren. One of his crowning achievements was attaining 44 years of sobriety; giving God the glory for seeing him through some tough times and showing him the way to Let Go and Let God. As a member of St. Louis Parish in Louisville, he served as a Eucharistic Minister, was on the church cleaning crew, worked the church festival and assisted with fundraising campaigns.

Left to mourn his loss are his wife of 53 years Ruth; their daughters, Christina Ashcraft, Antoinette (David) Payton, Cynthia (Davy) Reith; grandchildren, Emily, Kyle, Jimmy and Madeline Ashcraft; Gwyneth and Cambell Payton; Blayne and Ramsey Reith; his son, Aaron (Melissa) Vickers; his granddaughter, Olivia (Jake) Glowzinski; and Rae, his sweet great granddaughter; brothers, Jerry (Monica), Jude (Stevie), Jeff (Trudy); his sister, Mary Schumacher; brother and sisters-in-law, Jackie France, Mary Jane (Stephen) Malich, Gerald (Jill) Griffiths, David (Claudia) Schlemmer, Karen Griffiths, Debra Ann (Michael) Scarberry and Jeff (Patty) Griffiths. 

Preceding him in death were his parents; siblings, Connie, Joseph, Maurita and James; his in-laws, Jerry and Antoinette Griffiths, brother-in-law, John Griffiths; as well as his son-in-law, James Ashcraft. 

Friends and family will be received from 10:00 AM to 12 Noon at the Paquelet-Falk Funeral Home on Tuesday, January 7th followed by a memorial service with celebrant Father Thomas Cebula. Condolences and special memories of John can be shared with his family online at www.paqueletfalk.com