Francis Henry Schoeder passed away on May 7, 2024 at age 70 in Chicago, Illinois.

A funeral service will be held at 11 am on May 18 at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Hettinger, North Dakota. A visitation will be at the Centennial Chapel of the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Hettinger from 6-8 pm on Friday, May 17. A memorial gathering will be held at Promontory Point Park in Chicago at a later date.

Francis was born in Dickinson, ND to Dale and Kaye Schoeder. He grew up on the family farm north of Reeder, ND on the Cedar Creek, the oldest of seven children. Francis attended Darlings Springs Township Grade School, a one-room school near the family farm. Francis occasionally rode his horse to school, leaving the horse in the stable behind the school. His love of learning and "spark" was obvious from an early age. He enjoyed listening to lessons for the older students, working through challenging math problems, and read every single book in the school library.

Francis attended high school in Hettinger for two years and graduated from St. Mary's High School in New England in 1971. While an undergraduate at NDSU, he was a VISTA volunteer at Fort Totten Reservation and bicycled 600 miles from Fargo to Wisconsin and back. He transferred to the University of Minnesota to complete his BA in Economics and Philosophy and a Masters in Business Administration.

Francis returned to the farm for spring planting and harvest for many years. With his encouragement, his parents were pioneers in no-till farming. The new technology increased production dramatically while reducing environmental impact.

Francis married Bonnie Lee Brueni in 1978 and they welcomed two children. His career began in Stillwater, MN as a financial analyst for Cub Foods before moving to Chicago in 1987, where he worked to bring Cub Foods to the Chicago market.

Francis' talent and dedication led to a successful career in financial analysis and real estate development. Francis single-handedly organized a database to manage the City of Chicago's Tax Increment Financing (TIF) portfolio, the largest in the nation. He tracked the funds and recommended billions of dollars to be spent to upgrade public infrastructure, transit systems, schools, housing, and parks.

A lifelong learner, he took great pride in his book collection, which includes Great Plains history, religious and political philosophy, and natural science. Insufficient bookshelf space was a common problem. Music was also an important part of his life. He enjoyed a wide variety of musical genres and encouraged his children and grandchildren to follow their musical passions.

Francis viewed life as an adventure and was never short of new ideas.  He delved into home renovation, brewing beer, setting up solar power systems, and assembling high-performance computers. Francis and Bonnie had drafted plans for a cargo trailer conversion just before his glioblastoma diagnosis 14 months ago. His dream was to retire to RVing. The soon-to-be completed project kept him going despite his illness.

While Francis was known for his dedication and attention to detail at work, he was eager to mentor his colleagues by sharing his expertise and experience. Similarly, no matter how busy he was, he would jump in to support family members and friends in difficult times.

Francis is survived by his wife, Bonnie Brueni (Chicago, IL), his daughter Catherine (Irwin) Leopando, and grandchildren – Julia, Henry, and Benjamin (New York, NY), brothers David (Nanette) Schoeder (Alexandria, VA), Thomas Schoeder (Reeder, ND), sisters Rosamary Schoeder (Hettinger, ND), Sarah Schoeder (Arvada, CO), and Lisa Bonomo (Colorado Springs, CO}. Francis is preceded in death by his son, Austin, his parents, Dale and Kaye, and his sister Teresa (Craig) Sheaffer (St. Paul MN). In lieu of flowers, memorials can be given to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute at isi.org/donate, to support ISI Honors Scholars.