Francis H. McAdoo Jr. was born in New York in 1916 to Francis and Ethel McCormack McAdoo. He was the grandson of William G. McAdoo, the Secretary of the Treasury under President Woodrow Wilson. His step-grandfather, Captain Isaac Emerson, invented Bromo Seltzer and founded the Emerson Drug Company in Baltimore, Maryland.
After graduating from St. Paul's School and Princeton University, Francis married the love of his life, Cynthia Stowe Heffron in 1939. He was 23 and she was 18. In 1940, he left Columbia Business School to enlist in the Navy. After some training in Chicago and Newport, he became the skipper of a PT boat in New Guinea, and eventually the commander of a PT squadron of 11 boats with the mission of breaking up the Japanese supply lines. He served with distinction and returned home a Lt. Commander decorated with a Silver Star in 1945.
While he was gone, his sons William G. McAdoo and John H. McAdoo were born. A third son, Preston F. McAdoo was born in 1949.
Upon his return, Francis went to work for the Emerson Drug Company, sweeping floors, loading trucks, and quickly working his way up to become president of the company in 1954. Meanwhile, he and Cynthia bought a 120-acre farm in a beautiful little river valley north of Baltimore, where they built a house, a barn, and many fences; they proceeded to raise sheep on a relatively large scale.
The farm went well, but sales of Bromo Seltzer dwindled as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration demanded, one by one, the removal of the best ingredients. On top of this, Francis had to fend off a hostile take-over bid by persuading his stockholders not to sell to the new company despite an attractive stock price. He later successfully merged his company with Warner-Lambert in Morris Plains, New Jersey. In 1962, he went to work for Warner Lambert, becoming a vice president and special assistant to the president, Alfred Driscoll, former governor of New Jersey.
Upon their arrival in New Jersey, Francis and Cynthia bought 60 acres of a wooded hillside overlooking the town of Oldwick. They built a house and started culling and planting trees. Well into his 90s, Francis could be spotted in the woods with his tractor and his chainsaw, tending to his saplings, with his socks puled up over his pants to fend off the ticks.
Francis was an avid skier who improved his technique the older he became. He was also an excellent sailor and could navigate in the fogs and tides of Maine with pinpoint precision.
In 2015, Francis and Cynthia, accompanied by their devoted nurse, Galina Berdnikova, moved to North Bennington, Vermont so his son Preston could keep an eye on them.
Francis had a certain charm and natural empathy that drew people to him, and he had a large circle of people he considered family. He remained devoted to his wife to the very end. After her death in 2015, Francis ate his meals surrounded by photos of her and spoke of missing her every day. Shortly before he passed, Francis asked his nurse, "Who is this woman standing here in sparkly white clothes?" Galina didn't see anyone there.
Francis is survived by his three sons, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He died peacefully in his bed four weeks before his 106th birthday. His youngest son Preston was holding his hand, and his lovely Dr. Hearst was wielding the stethoscope.
Family and friends are invited to a graveside service for Francis at Grandview Cemetery, in North Bennington, VT on Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 11am, officiated by Fr. Hugh Cleary.
Memorial contributions in honor of Francis H. McAdoo may be made to St. Johns the Baptist Church or the Vermont Food Bank through the office of the Mahar and Son Funeral Home 628 Main St. Bennington, VT 05201.
After graduating from St. Paul's School and Princeton University, Francis married the love of his life, Cynthia Stowe Heffron in 1939. He was 23 and she was 18. In 1940, he left Columbia Business School to enlist in the Navy. After some training in Chicago and Newport, he became the skipper of a PT boat in New Guinea, and eventually the commander of a PT squadron of 11 boats with the mission of breaking up the Japanese supply lines. He served with distinction and returned home a Lt. Commander decorated with a Silver Star in 1945.
While he was gone, his sons William G. McAdoo and John H. McAdoo were born. A third son, Preston F. McAdoo was born in 1949.
Upon his return, Francis went to work for the Emerson Drug Company, sweeping floors, loading trucks, and quickly working his way up to become president of the company in 1954. Meanwhile, he and Cynthia bought a 120-acre farm in a beautiful little river valley north of Baltimore, where they built a house, a barn, and many fences; they proceeded to raise sheep on a relatively large scale.
The farm went well, but sales of Bromo Seltzer dwindled as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration demanded, one by one, the removal of the best ingredients. On top of this, Francis had to fend off a hostile take-over bid by persuading his stockholders not to sell to the new company despite an attractive stock price. He later successfully merged his company with Warner-Lambert in Morris Plains, New Jersey. In 1962, he went to work for Warner Lambert, becoming a vice president and special assistant to the president, Alfred Driscoll, former governor of New Jersey.
Upon their arrival in New Jersey, Francis and Cynthia bought 60 acres of a wooded hillside overlooking the town of Oldwick. They built a house and started culling and planting trees. Well into his 90s, Francis could be spotted in the woods with his tractor and his chainsaw, tending to his saplings, with his socks puled up over his pants to fend off the ticks.
Francis was an avid skier who improved his technique the older he became. He was also an excellent sailor and could navigate in the fogs and tides of Maine with pinpoint precision.
In 2015, Francis and Cynthia, accompanied by their devoted nurse, Galina Berdnikova, moved to North Bennington, Vermont so his son Preston could keep an eye on them.
Francis had a certain charm and natural empathy that drew people to him, and he had a large circle of people he considered family. He remained devoted to his wife to the very end. After her death in 2015, Francis ate his meals surrounded by photos of her and spoke of missing her every day. Shortly before he passed, Francis asked his nurse, "Who is this woman standing here in sparkly white clothes?" Galina didn't see anyone there.
Francis is survived by his three sons, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He died peacefully in his bed four weeks before his 106th birthday. His youngest son Preston was holding his hand, and his lovely Dr. Hearst was wielding the stethoscope.
Family and friends are invited to a graveside service for Francis at Grandview Cemetery, in North Bennington, VT on Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 11am, officiated by Fr. Hugh Cleary.
Memorial contributions in honor of Francis H. McAdoo may be made to St. Johns the Baptist Church or the Vermont Food Bank through the office of the Mahar and Son Funeral Home 628 Main St. Bennington, VT 05201.
Francis H. McAdoo Jr. was born in New York in 1916 to Francis and Ethel McCormack McAdoo. He was the grandson of William G. McAdoo, the Secretary of the Treasury under President Woodrow Wilson. His step-grandfather, Captain Isaac Emerson, invented Bromo Seltzer and founded the Emerson Drug Company in Baltimore, Maryland.
After graduating from St. Paul's School and Princeton University, Francis married the love of his life, Cynthia Stowe Heffron in 1939. He was 23 and she was 18. In 1940, he left Columbia Business School to enlist in the Navy. After some training in Chicago and Newport, he became the skipper of a PT boat in New Guinea, and eventually the commander of a PT squadron of 11 boats with the mission of breaking up the Japanese supply lines. He served with distinction and returned home a Lt. Commander decorated with a Silver Star in 1945.
While he was gone, his sons William G. McAdoo and John H. McAdoo were born. A third son, Preston F. McAdoo was born in 1949.
Upon his return, Francis went to work for the Emerson Drug Company, sweeping floors, loading trucks, and quickly working his way up to become president of the company in 1954. Meanwhile, he and Cynthia bought a 120-acre farm in a beautiful little river valley north of Baltimore, where they built a house, a barn, and many fences; they proceeded to raise sheep on a relatively large scale.
The farm went well, but sales of Bromo Seltzer dwindled as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration demanded, one by one, the removal of the best ingredients. On top of this, Francis had to fend off a hostile take-over bid by persuading his stockholders not to sell to the new company despite an attractive stock price. He later successfully merged his company with Warner-Lambert in Morris Plains, New Jersey. In 1962, he went to work for Warner Lambert, becoming a vice president and special assistant to the president, Alfred Driscoll, former governor of New Jersey.
Upon their arrival in New Jersey, Francis and Cynthia bought 60 acres of a wooded hillside overlooking the town of Oldwick. They built a house and started culling and planting trees. Well into his 90s, Francis could be spotted in the woods with his tractor and his chainsaw, tending to his saplings, with his socks puled up over his pants to fend off the ticks.
Francis was an avid skier who improved his technique the older he became. He was also an excellent sailor and could navigate in the fogs and tides of Maine with pinpoint precision.
In 2015, Francis and Cynthia, accompanied by their devoted nurse, Galina Berdnikova, moved to North Bennington, Vermont so his son Preston could keep an eye on them.
Francis had a certain charm and natural empathy that drew people to him, and he had a large circle of people he considered family. He remained devoted to his wife to the very end. After her death in 2015, Francis ate his meals surrounded by photos of her and spoke of missing her every day. Shortly before he passed, Francis asked his nurse, "Who is this woman standing here in sparkly white clothes?" Galina didn't see anyone there.
Francis is survived by his three sons, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He died peacefully in his bed four weeks before his 106th birthday. His youngest son Preston was holding his hand, and his lovely Dr. Hearst was wielding the stethoscope.
Family and friends are invited to a graveside service for Francis at Grandview Cemetery, in North Bennington, VT on Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 11am, officiated by Fr. Hugh Cleary.
Memorial contributions in honor of Francis H. McAdoo may be made to St. Johns the Baptist Church or the Vermont Food Bank through the office of the Mahar and Son Funeral Home 628 Main St. Bennington, VT 05201.
After graduating from St. Paul's School and Princeton University, Francis married the love of his life, Cynthia Stowe Heffron in 1939. He was 23 and she was 18. In 1940, he left Columbia Business School to enlist in the Navy. After some training in Chicago and Newport, he became the skipper of a PT boat in New Guinea, and eventually the commander of a PT squadron of 11 boats with the mission of breaking up the Japanese supply lines. He served with distinction and returned home a Lt. Commander decorated with a Silver Star in 1945.
While he was gone, his sons William G. McAdoo and John H. McAdoo were born. A third son, Preston F. McAdoo was born in 1949.
Upon his return, Francis went to work for the Emerson Drug Company, sweeping floors, loading trucks, and quickly working his way up to become president of the company in 1954. Meanwhile, he and Cynthia bought a 120-acre farm in a beautiful little river valley north of Baltimore, where they built a house, a barn, and many fences; they proceeded to raise sheep on a relatively large scale.
The farm went well, but sales of Bromo Seltzer dwindled as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration demanded, one by one, the removal of the best ingredients. On top of this, Francis had to fend off a hostile take-over bid by persuading his stockholders not to sell to the new company despite an attractive stock price. He later successfully merged his company with Warner-Lambert in Morris Plains, New Jersey. In 1962, he went to work for Warner Lambert, becoming a vice president and special assistant to the president, Alfred Driscoll, former governor of New Jersey.
Upon their arrival in New Jersey, Francis and Cynthia bought 60 acres of a wooded hillside overlooking the town of Oldwick. They built a house and started culling and planting trees. Well into his 90s, Francis could be spotted in the woods with his tractor and his chainsaw, tending to his saplings, with his socks puled up over his pants to fend off the ticks.
Francis was an avid skier who improved his technique the older he became. He was also an excellent sailor and could navigate in the fogs and tides of Maine with pinpoint precision.
In 2015, Francis and Cynthia, accompanied by their devoted nurse, Galina Berdnikova, moved to North Bennington, Vermont so his son Preston could keep an eye on them.
Francis had a certain charm and natural empathy that drew people to him, and he had a large circle of people he considered family. He remained devoted to his wife to the very end. After her death in 2015, Francis ate his meals surrounded by photos of her and spoke of missing her every day. Shortly before he passed, Francis asked his nurse, "Who is this woman standing here in sparkly white clothes?" Galina didn't see anyone there.
Francis is survived by his three sons, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He died peacefully in his bed four weeks before his 106th birthday. His youngest son Preston was holding his hand, and his lovely Dr. Hearst was wielding the stethoscope.
Family and friends are invited to a graveside service for Francis at Grandview Cemetery, in North Bennington, VT on Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 11am, officiated by Fr. Hugh Cleary.
Memorial contributions in honor of Francis H. McAdoo may be made to St. Johns the Baptist Church or the Vermont Food Bank through the office of the Mahar and Son Funeral Home 628 Main St. Bennington, VT 05201.
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