Honored Veterans Committal Service to be held at Willamette National Cemetery and Celebration of Life to be held at Glenwood Community Church

Friends and family of Lucille Erma Madore and Francis Eugene Madore are invited to a pair of services this Friday, April 24 to honor and celebrate the lives of the cherished couple.

The ashes of Lucille Erma Madore, who passed away on March 13 (2026), will be placed in a columbarium alongside Francis Eugene Madore, who passed away in 2019, in an Honored Veterans Committal Service at 11 a.m. Friday (April 24). This service will include military honors for Francis as his ashes are also being placed at this time.

The service will be held at Willamette National Cemetery, located at 11800 SE Mt. Scott Blvd., Portland, OR 97086. Those attending are asked to arrive at the Administration Building 15-30 minutes early. Staff will provide a map to the staging area and a cemetery representative will escort the procession to the shelter at the scheduled time. (Note: restrooms are located only in the parking lot across from the Administration Building near Columbarium 1.)

A Celebration of Life Service will be held for Lucille Erma Madore on Friday (April 24) at 2 p.m. at Glenwood Community Church, located at 12201 NE 72nd Ave, Vancouver, WA 98686.

Francis Eugene Madore life and service

In 1980, Francis Madore shared a reflection of his life and service, which is shared now by his family.

FRANCIS E. MADORE, born Nov. 16, 1921, in Flint, Mich. Enlisted Reserve June 1942 and called to active duty as an Aviation Cadet in Nov. 1942. Went through San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center and went to preflight there. I took Primary flight training at Vernon, Texas; Basic at Enid, Oklahoma; and Advance at Victoria, Texas. Graduated there as single engine fighter pilot Class of 43-H. Sent to Richmond, Virginia to fly P-47s with the 371st Fighter Group 406th Fighter Squadron, Capt. Taylor Squadron Commander.

Then, Camp Springs, Washington D.C. for fighter and gunnery training. Went overseas in Feb., 1944 on the Mauretania, then to Ringwood, England, 9th Air Force. Flew Sorties consisting of fighter sweeps, strafing and dive-bombing and some escort for the 8th Air Force. We were in on the first 1000 bomber raid on Berlin and supposed to rendezvous with the bombers on the way back, but never did find them – they were late. We had to return home because of low fuel. That was the longest mission I was ever on, about 4 hours. Incidently, I had a wrinkle in my dinghy and before I got back it felt like I was sitting on a hot stove.

We escorted gliders on D Day to St. Mere Eglise and did some dive bombing and strafing on the beach on gun emplacements. We landed at St. Mere Eglise on D-Day+4, and moved there permanently about June 12. We slept in pup tents and at that time some of our missions took only about 20 minutes to complete, they were that close to the field. We could see our planes going into their dive-bomb runs. We followed Gen. Patton after the breakthrough at St. Lo and sometimes he would be 30 miles farther than where we were to rendezvous with his armored spearhead.

We moved to St. Dizier, France in August, then to Dijon, then to Tantonville. It was cold there. Our runway was pierced plank, downhill and snow. I got my orders to come home in January, 1945. When I left I had 4 planes to my credit, 2 damaged and 1 probable, 103 missions; the DFC Air Medal with 17 Oak Leaf Clusters, an ETO ribbon with 5 battle stars.

After coming home, I was sent to Santa Ana Air Base for reassignment. Then back to Perrin Field Sherman, Texas, as pilot instructor. Then to Lubbock, Texas for instrument pilot instructor school, and back to Perrin Field where I instructed Chinese, Philippinos, Ecuadorians, and Arabs. Was separated from active duty in Dec., 1945.

I married my wife in 1946 and have 8 children, 5 boys and 3 girls, and am very proud of all of them. We have 12 grandchildren now and are expecting our 13th in Dec.,1980.

Flying the P-47 was one of the highlights in my life and I thank God for bringing me home safe and sound and blessing me with a good family and good health.