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Francis was a dear friend of mine, one of my best friends. I met Frances when he first moved to Newcastle for a civil engineering course at Newcastle University in 1983, I had advertised for a guitarist in Newcastle Students Union. I didn't really have a full band at that time didn't even really know what music we were going to do pipe dreams lol. Fran turned up one evening at the bands meeting place which was a flat at the top of the West Road in Newcastle a pretty notorious area. As soon as I met Fran I liked him an unassuming man quite quiet but interesting. We immediately hit it off as we had similar interests in music. I was just a chancer I'd played drums trumpet and some keyboards and a very little amount of guitar I won't do the full story as it would be too much to read but the rest as we say is history we ended up being in 3 bands together Hi unity, Two Returns, and The Range every band was different I originally played drums the second band trumpet and vocals and the third band keyboards and vocals. Francis played lead guitar in the first two bands and then bass with the third band. It was a very important time as my life at home wasn't too good. They were some of my best years. I was devastated and heartbroken when Fran had finished his University course but happy for him his life was moving on but I knew I never wanted to lose touch which I didn't. Fran was never the best at keeping in touch but slowly over the years I think he realised that friends are part of your history your present and your future, and he was for over 39 years. I was at Frans wedding to Heather. I met his family when we first tried to force our demo tape on record companies in London. I met Catherine and Evelyn and William his Mum and Dad it was at the house in Windsor I had my first Ghanian cuisine hot Pepper soup jollof rice and Kelewele. I never forgot how welcoming his family were. Family was very important to Fran and I always felt part of an extended family when we spoke on the phone he would always speak of his sister's his brother William his nephew Daniel and Taeja his goddaughter (he was so proud to be a godfather even more than Don Vito Corleone), he was so smitten with them so our calls would always be taken up with a large percentage of what he had done with them which was nice to hear the thing about Fran he was always doing something for somebody else it was never about him. He liked his grub nice and spicy so I started to send them my hot sauce which I made in batches once a month as the Ghanian spice had rubbed off on me at such an early age it never left my pallet. I've had my problems with cancer still ongoing unfortunately and Fran kindly offered for me to move down to London to stay with him but I felt I couldn't burden him with myself and all my medical stuff was already set up in the North Frans passing came as a huge shock because I had recently spoken to him and I know that my life will have a huge void in it because of the loss of my best friend the only thing that I have going forward is my memories which I'm so grateful to have. I never saw Francis angry he never had a bad word to say about anybody I remember his Christmas days working for crisis. I used to work for the same kind of service in the north east in my earlier years for people with mental health problems and addictions I was very proud of him as I’d done that work for a lot of years and it was very stressful. He inspired me to go on to university as a mature student as I never really had the opportunity coming from a working class background and it was never really on the cards but I achieved a few degrees in Music Technology Systems/ Electronics./ Acoustics and psychoacoustics. and ended up being a lecturer in music technology and electronics after I stopped being on the road as a sound engineer. Francis always made you believe in yourself and he would always have rational advice. he was methodical he would never rush to buy the latest thing he would wait until it had been tried and tested. I'm sad that he's gone but he will never be forgotten by his family friends and relatives. You can't write about a man  like France life and do it justice you can only take a snapshot from your memories we never really took photographs when we met up only from the early days when we were in bands together when we thought we were going to be rockstars. Francis you inspired me you were my best friend I will never forget you. You will always be in my heart and my mind rest well dear friend keep the amplifier’s warm until I get there.

I met Francis for the first time back in 2015. I remember he was sitting at his dining room table when we walked into his home. The first thing I recognized about him was his smile, and kind eyes. He was welcoming and pretty easy to talk to. The conversation flowed. We met again at his sister’s wedding. Over the years I would see him on FaceTime whenever he visited his sister Cathy, my brother Jamal, and nephew Daniel for holiday dinners. Sometimes we waved and said just a simple hello. Other times we spoke of food, Ghana and Guyana. We compared our countries similarities, our cultures, and family. 
Francis was a delight to be around( even though I physically around). He certainly was a pleasure to talk to. His kind eyes and welcoming smile not be easily forgotten. 
Rest easy brother!
Kanema