Francis J. O’Regan, 88

Francis J. O’Regan, age 88 of Waukon, died Friday, March 31, 2023, at Green Lea Care Center in Mabel, Minnesota.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon with Father John Moser officiating. 

Burial with military honors will be held at St. Mary’s Hanover Cemetery, rural Waukon. 

Friends may greet the family from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 10, 2023, at St. Patrick Catholic Church, where there will be a 3:15 p.m. Rosary and Scripture Service. 

Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon is handling the arrangements.

Francis James O’Regan was born on May 12, 1934, in Waukon, the son of Maurice James and Mary (Bresnahan) O’Regan. 

He graduated from St. Patrick Catholic High School in Waukon. 

Francis served in the U.S Army from 1956-1958.

On Oct. 4, 1958, Francis married Leona Mary Franzen at St. Mary’s Hanover Catholic Church in rural Waukon. They farmed near Waucoma, from 1969 until 1998, when they moved to Waukon. Francis and Leona were blessed with seven children, six boys and one girl. 

Their family had many adventurous road trips and always had a sit-down dinner at their family table every night, where stories of the day were told and delicious food was served.

The story of Francis and Leona goes that Francis first sighted Leona in the Catholic Witness Newspaper, where her picture was displayed for being valedictorian of her high school class. He vowed he was going to marry that girl one day and as fate had it, he met beautiful Leona Franzen and they were married for 59 years until Leona passed to heaven on Oct. 21, 2017. 

Francis was a great baseball pitcher in his day; legend has it, he hit the longest homerun in Waukon to date. He was a Little League coach, a faithful man who took his family to church religiously, a life-long farmer, a proud employee of John Deere in Waterloo, for 28 1/2 years, a hunter who would never shoot a pheasant because he thought they were a beautiful bird, a seasoned pool player and mentor of the game, a brilliant storyteller, a lover of music and live shows, an accomplished numismatist and, most of all, was a loving husband to Leona and an inspirational father who loved his children dearly.

Survivors include his daughter and his six sons, Katie O’Regan of Waukon, Patrick (Amy) O’Regan of Decorah, Michael (Wanda) O’Regan of Leland, Illinois, Kenneth O’Regan of Saratoga, Donald (Lisa) O’Regan of Madison Heights, Virginia, Dean O’Regan of Waukon, and James (Lindsay) O’Regan of Hudson; grandchildren, Molly (David), Brian, Bridget (Cody), Darcy, Clairissa, Mitchel, Shawn, Jasonlee, Rachel, Sam, Reilley, Shane, Elise, and Cael O’Regan, and Nick Decker; his two great-grandchildren,  Wells and Hayes; his siblings, Timothy (Donna) O’Regan, Maureen Mellady, Dr. Thomas (Suzanne) O’Regan and Joanne Liddiard; and his brothers-in-law, Kenneth Franzen of Apple Valley, Minnesota, and Donald (Elsa) Franzen of La Crosse, Wisconsin. 

He was preceded in death by his parents and sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Meredith O’Regan, Phillip Liddiard, MaryJane Franzen, Stan Franzen, and Wilma Franzen.

Honorary casketbearers are Francis’s grandchildren. Casketbearers are Francis’s six sons.

Online condolences may be left at www.martinfunerals.com.