Francis Harmon Lewis Varino

Francis Harmon Lewis Varino

Francis Harmon Lewis Varino, a native of Monroe, LA, and son of George Vincent Varino and Lydia Fenton Lewis Varino, died of natural causes at his home on Point Drive in Monroe on June 26, 2017.

Memorial services are Thursday, July 20, 2017, 4:30 PM, in St. Mary Chapel at Grace Episcopal Church, Monroe, LA. Entombment will be in the Grace Episcopal Columbarium.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Mary Elizabeth Varino Jacka, and a niece, Mary Lisa Jacka.

He is survived by two sisters and a brother: Anne Weir Varino Sandlund (Peter) of Alexandria, VA, Lydia Lewis Varino Jullienne (Joe) of Chattanooga, TN, and George Vincent Varino, Jr. (Pat) of Baton Rouge, LA. He is further survived by fifteen nieces and nephews: Susan Jacka Riggin , Elizabeth Jacka Lund (Steven), Robert Jacka, Beuford G. Jacka, Jr. (Mary Sue), Lydia Sandlund Aldredge, Sten Sandlund (Susan), Eric Sandlund (Anne), Christopher Sandlund (Jennifer), David Sandlund, Nicole Jullienne Logan (Andy), Jean-Marc Jullienne (Cassie), Jean-Paul Jullienne (Tracey), Catherine Varino Mueller (Michael), Jennifer Varino Thiis-Evensen (Eyvind), George V. Varino III; and by twenty-six grand-nieces and nephews: Josh Riggin, Tracey Riggin, Stephanie Lund, Caroline Jacka, Amalia Aldredge, Nicholas Aldredge, Jack Sandlund, Clare Sandlund, William Sandlund, Lillian Sandlund, Kate Sandlund, Reid Sandlund, Pelle Sandlund, Andrew Logan, Olivia Logan, Lydia Grace Logan, Camille Jullienne, Sophie Jullienne, Max Jullienne, Sophia Kate Jullienne, Josie Jullienne, Julia Mueller, Miranda Thiis-Evensen, Cecilia Thiis-Evensen, George V. Varino IV, and Lauren Varino.

Mr. Varino attended Monroe City Schools’ Barkdull Faulk and Neville High School, graduating from Neville within a few weeks of his 16th birthday. A gifted and brilliant scholar who excelled in baseball and basketball, he was also student manager of his Neville Tigers’ football team. Following his Neville graduation, he entered the University of the South at Sewanee, TN, where he majored in Organic Chemistry and graduated magna cum laude. While at Sewanee, he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity and enjoyed hiking and caving along with academic pursuits, particularly math. He shared his love of both classical and “boogie-woogie” music (which he played at top volume on the family piano) with his younger siblings, insisting they listen to his records. He once said he would have majored in physics, but chemistry was the better department at Sewanee. Upon graduating, he was awarded a full fellowship to pursue a doctorate degree in Chemistry at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY.

A draft notice from Monroe, and concern for his country during the Korean Conflict (where several of his classmates were serving) caused Mr. Varino to allow his student option to lapse and to interrupt his studies in Rochester in order to serve with the US Army in Korea. Following that service, he resumed his doctoral work in Rochester, which eventually led to his early employment with the Metalsalt Company in Patterson, NJ, which was acquired by the Merck Corporation where he remained until ending his professional career and retiring to the family home in Monroe.

Baptized and confirmed in his youth at Grace Episcopal Church in Monroe, Mr. Varino also later attended St. Albans Episcopal Church at times with his parents. His family is making arrangements with these churches and Mulhearn Funeral Home for a Requiem Eucharist to be held in his memory.

Mulhearn Funeral Home
Sterlington Road
Monroe, LA