Francis House

Francis (Franz) Lee House of Hammett passed away on Tuesday, May 17, 2016, after a brave battle with lymphoma and Alzheimer's disease. A memorial service will be held in Holdenville, Okla., on or about June 5, 2016, managed by the Hudson-Phillips Funeral Home in Holdenville Okla.

Inurnment will be in Yeager Cemetery with full military honors. Cremation was under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.

Franz was born in Yeager, Okla., to Fred and Ada Inez House on Oct. 6, 1939. He attended Yeager High School, class of 1957, and then attended East Central State University in Ada, Okla,, completing his Bachelors in Math in 1961.

Upon graduation, Franz joined the Air Force, being commissioned through Officer Training School in December 1961 and then entered the year-long AFIT Basic Meteorology program. In 1963, he became a weather officer at the Army Chemical Corps Proving Grounds, Dugway, Utah.

In August 1965, Franz went overseas as a weather officer at Binh Thuy Air Base, Vietnam, in support of military operations in the Mekong Delta area and IV Corps Direct Air Support Center. Midway through his tour, he was selected to provide direct weather support to the Commanding General, 7th Air Force and his staff.

Upon completion of his tour of duty in Vietnam, Franz was stationed at Headquarters Air Weather Service as a staff officer. In 1970, seeking more excitement, he trained to become an Aerial Reconnaissance Weather Officer, and was stationed at Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico, where he made aerial observations from a WC-130B airplane through hurricanes and tropical storms.

In 1973, he was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., with the 53rd Weather Recon Squadron where he taught and served as the Squadron Executive Officer. In 1975, he was assigned as a Weather Service Inspector for the MAC Office of Inspector General, stationed at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

In 1978, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and was selected to be the Executive Officer to the two-star MAC Inspector General. Franz was promoted to Colonel in 1982, and in January 1983, he became the Comptroller for the 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

After 26 years of distinguished service, Franz retired in September 1987. He was awarded the Senior Officer Aircrew Member Badge, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

After retiring from the Air Force, Franz provided loving support and encouragement to his wife, Tamzy, as she moved through various Air Force assignments, completing her time in service of almost 27 years as the 366th SG/CC, 366th AEW, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, in 2001.

Franz was a brilliant, independent man with many talents. He loved to travel, to build things, to solve problems, to be outdoors, and to be at peace along the Snake River or back home, along Yeager Creek in Oklahoma.

He was a thrifty, hard-working man with high expectations for himself and the people around him. He loved his family and his pets and enjoyed the songs of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Meryl Haggard. He loved the movies of John Wayne and to write poetry about family, life, and his Oklahoma upbringing.

Franz wrote, "I'm an ordinary man, Who has worked and known strife. The calluses on my hands; Have not dulled my lust for life. I love the flowers in spring; and the crispness of the fall. Whatever this world may bring; There is beauty in it all."

He maintained this outlook, with dignity and honor, to the end.

Franz is survived by his wife, Tamzy of 36 years, and his three children, Jeffery of Dallas, Texas; Jeremy of St. Louis, Mo.; and Andrea House of New York, N.Y. He is also survived by two brothers, Charles of Lees' Summit, Mo., and Kenneth of Norman, Okla., and two grandchildren and one great grandchild. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers Bennie, Douglas and Joel, and by his first wife of 17 years, Judy.