EFFRA is sad to report the death of local resident, Francis Helps who died at the age of 99 just a few days before what would have been his 100th birthday on 10th May. Francis died at Epsom Hospital on Wednesday 29th April, but we understand that he did not have COVID 19.
Francis, who had lived in Lower Farm Road, Effingham since 1954 was very community minded. After retiring from serving as a Residents Association committee member and briefly as its chairman in the early 2000s he still attended every public meeting and AGM until he was too frail to do so. He also regularly attended other village events including many Parish Council meetings and EVRT AGMs. He often proposed a vote of thanks from the floor on these occasions. He was very interested in local history and was an enthusiastic member of the Effingham Local History Group and used to enjoy attending Heritage Open Days in the village. He will be much missed.
If any resident has a photo of Francis we would love to have one for our archives.
The Effingham Local History Group website has a photograph showing Francis on the page for Commoners Day in 2014, in the gallery presented there.
There’s a photo of Francis here:
https://elhg.org.uk/discovery/commoners-days/commoners-day-2014/
Please scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the photograph titled “ELHG members Liz Hogger and Francis Helps”.
This is very sad news. I was privileged to serve on the Residents Association committee during the 1990s, and saw for myself the commitment and service Francis gave to the Effingham community.
Francis, who was a member of the Armada Probus and worked for the GPO research dept played a big part in setting up the equipment used by local Taking Newspaper for the Blind. Contact Eddie Crouch
Francis was a great friend to my father, John Wallis, for over 50 years after having met on the train from Effingham Junction to Waterloo. When my father became disabled Francis insisted on taking him out and was always on hand to help, or just chat. He was, without doubt, a lovely man.