Francis Beveridge DuBois

DuBOIS, Francis Beveridge - 91, of Davis and Westport, CA, died on Sunday, Feb. 20, of cardiac disease at his Davis home in the University Retirement Community. He was born October 23, 1913 in Rough and Ready, CA, to Luther and Johanne Johnson DuBois, who both were teachers in the Woodland schools. DuBois Park is named after them. He was preceded by his parents; his brothers, Alfred and Forrest; and by his first wife, the late Dorothy Evans DuBois who died in 1968. A resident of Yolo County since 1923, he graduated from Woodland High School in 1929. An ardent traveler he sailed for a year in the Merchant Marine and then he studied at the Sorbonne, University of Grenoble, University of Dresden and the University of Mexico. After graduating from Stanford in 1939, he worked for the State of California as a statistician. He had a long career in rice farming and served on the boards of the California Crop Improvement Association and Rice Growers Association and he was a founder of the Tomato Growers Association. He and Regnar Paulsen formed Demeter Corporation and farmed in Yolo, Sacramento and Sutter counties for several decades. Aside from his irrepressible sense of humor, Fran was well known for his pioneering in rice farming, and for the contributions he made to the development of the industry. While he was forceful and dynamic as a member of the boards of the California Crop Improvement Association, Rice Growers Association and a founder of the Tomato Growers Association, his first love was to be out standing in his field. He was heavily committed to community service and enjoyed serving for many years on the boards of the Carmel Bach Festival, the Monterey Institute of International Studies, KVIE Channel Six, Sacramento Symphony, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, United World Federalists, the UCD Medical School Board of Visitors and a UCD agricultural project in Egypt. Fran took a particular interest serving as an officer of the DuBois Family Association of New Paltz, New York. As well as being a successful fundraiser for many community organizations, Fran took pleasure in his tenure as president of Woodland Rotary. He enjoyed membership in the El Capitan Eating Club at Stanford and was a long standing member of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Davis. In 1971 he married Nancy Griffin Neal who survives him; along with their children, Ruth Roxane Loud Silverberg and her husband, Rabbi Yoel Silverberg of Monsey, NY; Miron W. Neal III and his wife Deborah Thomas of Portland, OR; and Edward Griffin Neal, M.D. of Davis. He is also survived by his grandchild, Aryeh Mark Friedman; a nephew, David DuBois and wife, Sandy and their sons; and his cousin Louise Barth and her husband Roy, of Winters and their children and grandchildren. He was a skilled and meticulous craftsman passionately involved in the loving rehabilitation of an 1870 home in Westport where he spent summers and vacations for the past 30 years. A Memorial Service followed by reception will be celebrated for friends and family on Sunday, March 6 at 3:00 P.M. at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road off Russell Blvd., west of Davis. Memorial contributions may be made to the Nature Conservancy, Attn: Treasury, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203, or to the Yolo Hospice, P.O. Box 1014, Davis CA 95617.