Thomas Edward Francis

January 14, 1956 – August 22, 2021

Thomas Edward Francis shook off his mortal coil August 22, 2021 at 10:04 PM at Pomona Valley Hospital surrounded by his wife, his children and his brother. Tom was a husband, father, son and brother, but he was always Tom; equal and fair to all, quick to laugh at you or himself. He was a son of Neal Edward and Fe Dumaguing Francis, brother to Roy R. Francis and a native of the Southern California area of Los Angeles. He survived 8 years of parochial school at St. Thomas More elementary school in Alhambra, California. He attended Alhambra High School, where he was on the wrestling team lettering varsity his freshmen year. Tom attended California State University, Los Angeles, where he found his true calling in accounting, which he majored in and earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting. After graduating from college, he studied for the California State Certified Public Accounting Exam, passing on his first attempt. Later in his career he would specialize in Tax Planning. Tom began his professional career working for one of the big 8 firms, Arthur Andersen. His first assignment was to fly to Peru, be delivered to an oil rig, spend 2 weeks there, then be collected by chopper and start over again in another 2 weeks. He advanced his professional standing by earning a Master’s of Tax degree from Golden Gate University. He started working at a firm, and made Tax Partner, called Provident Financial, which had a large client base in the entertainment and music industry. It was there that he met Roy Orbison’s widow Barbara Orbison and later worked with the Orbison Estate. Some other notables he worked with were Maury Povich; they would become clients and friends for the rest of his life. He eventually started his own CPA Tax practice for which his loyal clients followed. Always being true to his ideals, one thing Tom was never afraid to do was to fire any client if they did not behave themselves. Along life’s journey he met the love of his life, Suzanne Sulzberger. He is survived by his wife Suzanne, their children Elysse, Brett and Courtney and granddaughters Rowyn and Rylan.