Florence Francis, CEO of the Barbers Inc., dies at 85

One afternoon, 14-year-old Florence Francis (nee Marquardt) was walking to her family's St. Paul bakery when she noticed an older boy run out of the neighboring shoe store, reach into the snowbank, and run back inside.

When she got closer, Florence, known as Flo, realized the boy was planting an empty wallet with a string attached in the snowbank. When passersby picked up the bogus billfold, he would yank it out of their hands. As Flo passed the shoe store window, her future husband caught her eye. And winked.

"Her heart skipped a beat," John Francis of Mendota Heights said of his mother, who went on to marry the youthful prankster, Joe Francis.

Upon her death on Dec. 11 at age 85, Flo had raised five children with Joe and jointly created a thriving salon franchise, the Barbers Inc. Joe's knack for generating ideas and Flo's ability to hone them made for a powerful combination, John said. Equally powerful was Flo's gift for making others feel special, whether she was in the role of CEO, grandma or friend.

Joe, who had become the state's youngest barber at 17, turned his one-chair shop into a franchise. Eventually it became a publicly traded company with a thousand salons worldwide. For years, Flo Francis helped behind the scenes, assisting with marketing and public relations. When Joe wanted to name a new line of value-oriented salons Budget Hair, for example, Flo persuaded him to call it Cost Cutters instead.

Upon Joe's death in 1994, Flo took over as Barbers' CEO and board chair. She doubled the company's number of salons and increased its value tenfold before selling to Regis. The couple were inducted into the International Franchise Association Hall of Fame.

Today, recipients of cosmetology or barber school tuition from the family's Joe Francis Haircare Scholarship Foundation are given a biography of Joe that Flo commissioned, to encourage future generations to achieve their potential.

Hard-working Flo Francis relished recognizing accomplishments. Even a grandchild's swimming the length of the pool was reason enough to pop the champagne. "She loved to celebrate just about anything that could be celebrated," John noted.

Daughter Jeanne Francis Dietrich of St. Paul recalled her mother's knack for conjuring special occasions. Flo once bought her granddaughters American Girl dolls and matching skating outfits — as well as a coordinating one for herself — for a trip to the ice rink. Other family celebrations involved flamenco costumes and replicas of Scarlett O'Hara dresses. Once, hosting a dinner party, Francis lifted the top of a silver-domed platter to reveal a pile of White Castle hamburgers. "She was super enthusiastic and also kind of hilarious," Jeanne said.

Francis loved people, be they old friends or new acquaintances. Throughout adulthood, she met monthly with a group of her elementary school girlfriends. She gave books to the children of her doctor's office staff and cash to homeless people.

A friend from her ovarian cancer support group, Joni Monfre of Minneapolis, said the Cancer Chicks appreciated Francis' down-to-earth nature, describing her as having "a soul full of gold." Everyone wished they'd known her longer. "The pain that we endure saying goodbye doesn't even come close to the joy of that friendship," Monfre said.

Francis is preceded in death by her son Joseph. In addition to John and Jeanne, she is survived by children Susan Goldstein of Minneapolis and Barbara Francis of Bellingham, Wash.; 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Services have been held.