Francis Spring Ronalds Jr. ’46

In 1942, when Francis signed up for the Navy’s V-12 program, he didn’t know it would lead to an international career.  Midshipmen’s school at Cornell sent him to the Navy Language School at the University of Colorado, where he learned to speak and understand Russian. Next came the Columbia Russian Institute, then the University of Paris.

The skilled linguist soon found himself in Vienna, where he served as an interpreter of Russian at the Allied High Command. From there, he moved to Hamburg to work as the Navy’s liaison officer with the British Navy.

Postwar, Francis joined Time magazine as contributing foreign-affairs editor, then Washington bureau correspondent, then Ottawa correspondent. Next, he moved to Munich, joining Radio Liberty to become its managing director, followed by taking charge of programs at Voice of America. 

When Francis died Nov. 26, 2014, he was survived by his children; son Francis, a painter in oils; daughter Jessica, a psychotherapist; son Nicholas, vice president for Asia development at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; and daughter Valerie. To them all, ’46 sends thankfulness for their dad’s long and internationally dedicated life.