Francis Logan Coune

May 27, 1919 - November 26, 2021

Francis Logan Coune A Southern gentleman to the end, Frank passed away on November 26, 2021 at the age of 102 1/2 at home in Linden Hills, Minneapolis, under the loving care of his hospice team: daughters Karen & Nancy, nurses Kelsey & Kris, hospice pros Sharyn & Sandy, and the extended hospice team. He was born in 1919 in Chicago to immigrant parents from Belgium and Luxembourg. At the age of 13 he moved with his family to an orange grove in rural Tampa after they lost everything in the Great Depression. From making friends with a new array of critters, catching and selling "croakers" to local restaurants, and becoming a traditional Florida cow hunter with his pony, Toby in inland rural Florida to spear fishing, oystering, and sailing in the Gulf, Frank became a lifelong Florida Boy at heart. Frank served in WWII as a B-24 bomber pilot. Shot down over Europe, he and his crew were interned for 6 months in Switzerland. They successfully made a movie-worthy escape back to England, with the aide of the French Underground. He recently recorded the details of his internment and escape for the Hopkins Historical Society, uncovering some previously unknown facts to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Building on his love of animals large and small, Frank graduated with a Masters Degree in Animal Science from the University of Florida and would become a sought after expert in the field of animal nutrition. With the love and support of his homemaker wife extraordinaire, Eula, they raised 3 daughters in Tampa, Buenos Aires, and Minneapolis, instilling in their girls an appreciation for new and interesting experiences, while he pursued his career with Cargill. He had a full and rewarding career, spending 5 years in Argentina opening 3 feed mills in the 1960s as a highlight. He retired in Minneapolis in 1984 as Director Of Research for the Nutrena Feeds Division. Frank is predeceased by his parents, brother and sister, wife Eula Bispham Coune, daughter Jeanne Coune Kinnear, and grandson Alex Gibson. He is survived by daughters Karen Coune (Kirk Davis), & Nancy Coune (Jody Sipe), son-in-law Peter Kinnear, granddaughter Allison Gibson (Barry Scarborough), and grandson Kellen Coune Davis (Amie Ramsey), and extended family. Frank and Eula lived an active and joyful retirement for 34 years in the home they built in Sun City Center - the longest they lived in any home in their 74-year marriage. They reluctantly moved back to Minnesota in 2017 as their advanced years required more support from their daughters. Eula passed away in June, 2020 from natural causes at the age of 95. Always the planners, their ashes will be reunited as they are interned at Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Tampa where their double headstone is in place and awaits them in their beloved Sunshine State. Memorials to Frank's memory may be made to Red Lake Rosie's Rescue as a Tribute Gift at https://www.redlakerosie.org/donate/. A notification will automatically be emailed to the family.