Thanks To His Deep Roots, Chris Francis Wears Many Hats
August 21, 2022 at 9:35 p.m.
Thanks To His Deep Roots, Chris Francis Wears Many Hats
By David [email protected]
He even served as a substitute teacher for a time.
“For me, I’m not one to be huge on tradition, but I am on heritage. So to be able to continue to serve the community that my family members, that my ancestors developed and built and tilled and plowed is an honor to me. And that means something to me,” Francis said in an interview Saturday, Aug. 20 at his North Webster home.
A farewell open house honoring Francis as he concludes 18 years of service with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office and moves on to the Warsaw Police Department is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27 at The Owl’s Nest in North Webster.
Francis’ ancestors were original settlers of Kosciusko County, back in the 1830s, in Pierceton, North Webster and Syracuse.
“That’s what’s kind of cool about the Surveyor’s Office having the old plat maps. I can actually get on there and see the land that they owned at one time,” he said.
Where his home is now along Blaine Street in North Webster was his third-great-grandfather’s farm. “They had everything from Huntington Street down to the river from the school to the lake. One hundred acres,” he said.
Francis graduated from Wawasee High School in 2001 and from IPFW in 2004, studying criminal justice. He always knew he wanted to get into law enforcement.
“My grandfather (Tony Strombeck) started as a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office and then was the North Webster town marshal for 20 years,” he said. “And then my Grandpa Francis was a military policeman. So, yeah, I think there’s a little bit of genetics in play.”
Two weeks after Francis graduated from college in 2004, he started working part time at Kosciusko County Work Release. In 2005, he began working at the Kosciusko County Jail.
The best education in the criminal justice field occurs behind bars, he stated. “You learn psychology and sociology, just the dynamic of each individual person, and for me I like getting into the deeper side of the story and understanding where the guys and girls come from, and I’ve made some friendships with some inmates who were back in the jail. Everybody makes mistakes, it’s human, but it’s an interesting dynamic, especially right here because a lot of people think that our jail is just this two-cell holding tank, and it’s not. It’s a city all of its own,” Francis explained.
During his last four to five months working in the jail, he was a second-shift corporal. In April 2007, he started as a sheriff’s deputy.
His grandpa owned a milk distribution business. From age 5 to the time Francis went to patrolling the road, he worked for his grandfather. A couple years he worked EMS at Plain Township, working on the ambulance a couple days a week and then with his grandfather on the milk route. When he worked at the jail, he still worked for his grandpa in the mornings, from 5 a.m. to noon. After a break, he’d then go work at the jail until 11 p.m.
He would work a month or so without any days off, but he was making money and was 21 years old so it was all OK.
Francis started on the fire department when he was 16. At that time, a 16-year-old could still be certified as a firefighter, so he was on the fire department while in high school. During his freshman year in college he took his EMT course.
His reasoning for getting involved in EMT, firefighting and law enforcement goes back to genetics.
“I think it still falls under the genetics. My grandpa was on the fire department for 30 years, and he was on the predecessor to the EMS,” Francis said, noting that firefighters back then were the equivalent of what’s considered first responders today.
“I just figured I always looked up to the man, it was what I wanted to do and I had buddies’ dads that were on the fire department when we were growing up and here I am 23 years later and I love it. I was out on some calls last night. I love doing it and I think it’s the greatest community service that there is, and especially on the volunteer side because it’s an endangered species,” Francis said.
People used to wait to get on the fire department. Now, he said, it’s a struggle to find and retain people to serve.
To become a deputy in 2007, Francis went through the Sheriff’s Office field training. He was on his own for about six months and then went to the law enforcement academy, graduating in 2008.
As he began patrolling the roads as a deputy at age 23, he found it to be wild.
“I had no idea of the things that go on around here. I still, to this day, just when you think you’ve seen everything, there’s another call that you take or another story you hear and it’s just like ... there’s no two incidents that are the same and it is something every day,” Francis said.
Over the years with the county, Francis was a corporal in the jail, a deputy on the road and was promoted to sergeant eventually when he became the public information officer. He’s served as the public information officer the last 3-1/2 years.
“I needed a break,” Francis said of becoming the PIO. “This job takes a toll on your mind and your body. You can never expect - and there’s no training, and, of course, I’ve taken a lot of subsequent training, but there’s no training that prepares you for the things you’re going to see and be a part of.”
Taking the PIO position was his break from the streets, but he also was ready to do something different as well. He took different trainings for the position, even up to the point where he knew he was leaving KCSO.
His path to becoming the Tippecanoe Township trustee began when there was an opening on the township board. Francis went for the position about talking to the trustee at the time and he was appointed to the board by a Republican caucus. That following election, he was ineligible to run because he wasn’t giving up serving on the fire department and the state had passed a rule against volunteer firefighters serving on the township board. The law changed again so Francis got back on the township board via another caucus after another opening became available. Then he ran and became the trustee.
“It was just that next progressive step. I’m the fourth member of my family to be the Tippecanoe Township trustee,” he said.
His cousin, great-uncle “down the line” and his second-great-grandfather served in the position.
“I think some of it, like I said, is just genetic. It’s really about what’s best for our community. I think way too many politicians and elected officials get into office with a chip on their shoulder and wanting to do their way,” Francis said. “All you are is a vessel. You’re taking the concerns and the issues of your entire community and funneling it through you to do what’s best for them.”
While helping to establish the fire territory as trustee between the fire department and town of North Webster was important, Francis said he also takes pride in the cemeteries.
“Not only because I have a lot of family in there, but a lot of people have a lot of family in the cemeteries. And a lot of those families aren’t around anymore, and you can look at some of the gravestones that are decades old that have (family) members that still come and be flowers on for Memorial Day, or they put flags on them for Memorial Day, or whatever it may be. So you can tell that even though somebody has been deceased since the 1950s or ‘60s, there’s still family out there that cares for them,” he said.
However, the township does have a limited budget to maintain the cemeteries. Francis does do work on them on his own, without being paid for the work, because he considers it to be one of his duties as trustee.
“I take a lot of pride in our cemeteries. With the budget we have, there’s only so much we can do, which is why I’m working on taking things to the next level with partnering with the Community Center for our office because that saves the township budget money not having to maintain the building anymore. We can cut the budget and we can dump remaining funds that we were using for the building into the cemetery so I can do the next level of work that we need to get taken care of,” Francis stated.
Francis begins with the WPD Sept. 4. He’s ready for a change and looking forward to working back on the streets and doing something different.
He loves being involved with his children, too. He and his wife, Leanne, have four children: Caden, 15; Reagan, 12; Kennedy, 10; and Piper, 7.
He even served as a substitute teacher for a time.
“For me, I’m not one to be huge on tradition, but I am on heritage. So to be able to continue to serve the community that my family members, that my ancestors developed and built and tilled and plowed is an honor to me. And that means something to me,” Francis said in an interview Saturday, Aug. 20 at his North Webster home.
A farewell open house honoring Francis as he concludes 18 years of service with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office and moves on to the Warsaw Police Department is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27 at The Owl’s Nest in North Webster.
Francis’ ancestors were original settlers of Kosciusko County, back in the 1830s, in Pierceton, North Webster and Syracuse.
“That’s what’s kind of cool about the Surveyor’s Office having the old plat maps. I can actually get on there and see the land that they owned at one time,” he said.
Where his home is now along Blaine Street in North Webster was his third-great-grandfather’s farm. “They had everything from Huntington Street down to the river from the school to the lake. One hundred acres,” he said.
Francis graduated from Wawasee High School in 2001 and from IPFW in 2004, studying criminal justice. He always knew he wanted to get into law enforcement.
“My grandfather (Tony Strombeck) started as a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office and then was the North Webster town marshal for 20 years,” he said. “And then my Grandpa Francis was a military policeman. So, yeah, I think there’s a little bit of genetics in play.”
Two weeks after Francis graduated from college in 2004, he started working part time at Kosciusko County Work Release. In 2005, he began working at the Kosciusko County Jail.
The best education in the criminal justice field occurs behind bars, he stated. “You learn psychology and sociology, just the dynamic of each individual person, and for me I like getting into the deeper side of the story and understanding where the guys and girls come from, and I’ve made some friendships with some inmates who were back in the jail. Everybody makes mistakes, it’s human, but it’s an interesting dynamic, especially right here because a lot of people think that our jail is just this two-cell holding tank, and it’s not. It’s a city all of its own,” Francis explained.
During his last four to five months working in the jail, he was a second-shift corporal. In April 2007, he started as a sheriff’s deputy.
His grandpa owned a milk distribution business. From age 5 to the time Francis went to patrolling the road, he worked for his grandfather. A couple years he worked EMS at Plain Township, working on the ambulance a couple days a week and then with his grandfather on the milk route. When he worked at the jail, he still worked for his grandpa in the mornings, from 5 a.m. to noon. After a break, he’d then go work at the jail until 11 p.m.
He would work a month or so without any days off, but he was making money and was 21 years old so it was all OK.
Francis started on the fire department when he was 16. At that time, a 16-year-old could still be certified as a firefighter, so he was on the fire department while in high school. During his freshman year in college he took his EMT course.
His reasoning for getting involved in EMT, firefighting and law enforcement goes back to genetics.
“I think it still falls under the genetics. My grandpa was on the fire department for 30 years, and he was on the predecessor to the EMS,” Francis said, noting that firefighters back then were the equivalent of what’s considered first responders today.
“I just figured I always looked up to the man, it was what I wanted to do and I had buddies’ dads that were on the fire department when we were growing up and here I am 23 years later and I love it. I was out on some calls last night. I love doing it and I think it’s the greatest community service that there is, and especially on the volunteer side because it’s an endangered species,” Francis said.
People used to wait to get on the fire department. Now, he said, it’s a struggle to find and retain people to serve.
To become a deputy in 2007, Francis went through the Sheriff’s Office field training. He was on his own for about six months and then went to the law enforcement academy, graduating in 2008.
As he began patrolling the roads as a deputy at age 23, he found it to be wild.
“I had no idea of the things that go on around here. I still, to this day, just when you think you’ve seen everything, there’s another call that you take or another story you hear and it’s just like ... there’s no two incidents that are the same and it is something every day,” Francis said.
Over the years with the county, Francis was a corporal in the jail, a deputy on the road and was promoted to sergeant eventually when he became the public information officer. He’s served as the public information officer the last 3-1/2 years.
“I needed a break,” Francis said of becoming the PIO. “This job takes a toll on your mind and your body. You can never expect - and there’s no training, and, of course, I’ve taken a lot of subsequent training, but there’s no training that prepares you for the things you’re going to see and be a part of.”
Taking the PIO position was his break from the streets, but he also was ready to do something different as well. He took different trainings for the position, even up to the point where he knew he was leaving KCSO.
His path to becoming the Tippecanoe Township trustee began when there was an opening on the township board. Francis went for the position about talking to the trustee at the time and he was appointed to the board by a Republican caucus. That following election, he was ineligible to run because he wasn’t giving up serving on the fire department and the state had passed a rule against volunteer firefighters serving on the township board. The law changed again so Francis got back on the township board via another caucus after another opening became available. Then he ran and became the trustee.
“It was just that next progressive step. I’m the fourth member of my family to be the Tippecanoe Township trustee,” he said.
His cousin, great-uncle “down the line” and his second-great-grandfather served in the position.
“I think some of it, like I said, is just genetic. It’s really about what’s best for our community. I think way too many politicians and elected officials get into office with a chip on their shoulder and wanting to do their way,” Francis said. “All you are is a vessel. You’re taking the concerns and the issues of your entire community and funneling it through you to do what’s best for them.”
While helping to establish the fire territory as trustee between the fire department and town of North Webster was important, Francis said he also takes pride in the cemeteries.
“Not only because I have a lot of family in there, but a lot of people have a lot of family in the cemeteries. And a lot of those families aren’t around anymore, and you can look at some of the gravestones that are decades old that have (family) members that still come and be flowers on for Memorial Day, or they put flags on them for Memorial Day, or whatever it may be. So you can tell that even though somebody has been deceased since the 1950s or ‘60s, there’s still family out there that cares for them,” he said.
However, the township does have a limited budget to maintain the cemeteries. Francis does do work on them on his own, without being paid for the work, because he considers it to be one of his duties as trustee.
“I take a lot of pride in our cemeteries. With the budget we have, there’s only so much we can do, which is why I’m working on taking things to the next level with partnering with the Community Center for our office because that saves the township budget money not having to maintain the building anymore. We can cut the budget and we can dump remaining funds that we were using for the building into the cemetery so I can do the next level of work that we need to get taken care of,” Francis stated.
Francis begins with the WPD Sept. 4. He’s ready for a change and looking forward to working back on the streets and doing something different.
He loves being involved with his children, too. He and his wife, Leanne, have four children: Caden, 15; Reagan, 12; Kennedy, 10; and Piper, 7.
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