Obituary of Francis J. Hone

Francis J. Hone of Port Washington, NY passed away at his home on November 8, 2023 at age 95 after a long and wonderful life. Frank and his wife, Jane, moved to Port Washington in 2009 after living for 50 years in Manhasset, where they raised their five children.

Frank was born on April 9, 1928, in Rochester, NY to Alexander Bennett Hone and Margaret Dewey (Antisdale) Hone, the youngest of three children. His father died when Frank was three, his mother was active in the Rochester community, and his two sisters went on to become Sacred Heart nuns, teaching and serving in New York City, Albany, Connecticut and Michigan.

Frank was a graduate of Aquinas High School in Rochester (1945) and the University of Rochester (1949), where he majored in Physics. He worked at the Physics Department of the Kodak Research Laboratory before joining the Army. During 1950-1952 Frank served as a corporal in the Army at Fort Devens, MA, Fort Dix, NJ, and Fort Monmouth, NJ, where he was assigned to the Signal Corps Engineering Laboratory.

Putting the G.I. Bill to good use, Frank attended St. John’s Law School (then located in Brooklyn) at night and finished at the top of his class after the first year, earning himself a scholarship for the following year, a feat he would repeat. While in law school, Frank made a triangle commute by subway from his apartment on West 120th Street in Manhattan to his day job in Queens, then to night school in Brooklyn, before making his way home on sometimes dodgy subway rides. He graduated from St. John’s in 1956, the year he met his future wife, Jane Quigley. Frank and Jane were married on June 22, 1957, in St. Stephen’s Church in Geneva, NY, and initially lived in Forest Hills, Queens.

Frank began his legal career in 1956 specializing in patent law at Campbell, Brumbaugh, Free & Donohue, which became Brumbaugh Graves Donohue & Raymond, and later Baker Botts, LLP. His clients included large corporations in the United States, Europe and Asia, and his work often involved patent applications, infringement litigation and appeals. Frank retired as a partner in 2002.

Starting in 1987, Frank was a Trustee of the Manhasset Public Library, serving in different capacities including President, Vice President and Financial Trustee, and overseeing the planning and many details involved in the construction of the new Manhasset Public Library, which was built in 2005. Frank also served on the Flower Hill Village Board and its Planning Board as well as an Acting Village Justice. He retired from the Library and Flower Hill positions when he and Jane moved to Port Washington in 2009.

Frank had a bright and detail-oriented mind, loved to read, regularly jotted down his start and finish times while whizzing through NY Times crossword puzzles, enjoyed traveling throughout the U.S. and abroad, and was a maker of wonderful gin and tonics in the summer and whiskey sours at family gatherings in the winter.

Frank and Jane were active parishioners of St. Mary’s Parish and their five children attended St. Mary’s Schools. Frank also served as an usher at St. Mary’s Church for many years.

Frank is survived by his wife, Jane, and their children: Frank (Chris) Hone of Raleigh, NC, Margaret (Lawrence) Bourguet of Manhasset, Andy (Allison) Hone of Wellesley, MA, Tom (Dawn) Hone of Crestwood, NY, and Paul Hone of Port Washington; ten grandchildren: Marissa (Steve) Shackleton, Brendan Hone, Thomas Bourguet, Elizabeth Bourguet (Nick Taran), Stephen Bourguet (Eileen Macron), Caroline Hone, Natalie Hone, Grace Hone, Aidan Hone and Deirdre Hone; and two great-grandchildren: Adam Shackleton and Cora Shackleton.

Frank is predeceased by his parents and his sisters, Margaret Mary Hone, RSCJ and Ellen Kearney Hone, RSCJ.