With Gratitude to Tim Francis
Tim Francis on his porch swing in June 2018 (Photo by Eric Gregory, Lincoln Journal Star)
The Preservation Association of Lincoln (PAL) is grateful and honored to have been designated by Tim Francis to receive a financial bequest from his estate. Tim was a civic-minded Lincoln resident who held a deep commitment to historic preservation. Sadly, Tim succumbed to cancer on October 11, 2018. His active and determined support for historic preservation is sorely missed.
Born in Red Cloud, Nebraska, Tim Francis grew up in northeast Lincoln. He first worked professionally for Lincoln Action Program before becoming a real estate agent with Woods Brothers Realty. His work in real estate was marked by his helpful and giving nature, as well as his commitment to historic preservation. He was known to offer encouraging advice to buyers of distinctive older houses, suggesting how they could be sensitively restored and preserved.
Tim’s active civic engagement in Lincoln is represented by his volunteer service in the latter years of his career as an appointed member of Lincoln’s Historic Preservation Commission, as well as the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals. At the location of his own home, Tim helped prepare the successful 1998 application to designate the Hawley Neighborhood a Landmark District, which, as stipulated by the Lincoln zoning ordinance, requires approval by the Historic Preservation Commission, Planning Commission, and the Lincoln City Council.
In June 2018, a self-guided tour of the Hawley/Malone historic neighborhood was organized by neighborhood leaders. Prior to the tour, Lincoln Journal Star columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick wrote a moving article (see link in the sidebar) about Tim Francis and his commitment to the Hawley Neighborhood, where he had lived for 35 years.
Tim was a longtime member of the Preservation Association of Lincoln and a regular participant in PAL events. In 2019, PAL posthumously honored Tim with its Stewardship Award for his preservation work on behalf of the Hawley Neighborhood, as well as his careful rehabilitation of his 1880s house in the neighborhood. Tim’s commitment to historic preservation in Lincoln will always be an important and memorable part of his legacy.