FRANCIS, HOLLY SCHAFER, of Goodrich; died November 21, 2020.  She was 43.

Holly was born on August 20, 1977 in Mt. Clemens, MI, the daughter of Cindy and the late Joseph Schafer.  She is survived by Mike, her loving husband of 18 years; their children, Joey, Luke, and Maggie Francis; her mother Cindy Schafer; her siblings Bonny (Chris) Campbell, Joseph (Laurie) Schafer, Rebecca Schafer, Jamie (Katie) Schafer, Katrina Schafer, and Andrew (Jamie) Schafer; her mother-in-law, Colleen Francis; her sister’s-in-law Maureen (Mark) Bozeman, Kathy (Scott) Bean, Patricia (Rocky) Walker, Eileen (Robert) Goble, Margaret (Sean) Cobb, Molly (Bryan) Tilley; her brother’s-in-law Brian Francis, and Jim (Mollie) Francis; and 40 nieces and nephews.

Holly graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in Marine City, Michigan, and later graduated from Aquinas College.  Her and Mike met in the summer of 1999 while working together at Volkswagen Credit, Inc. and were married in July of 2002.

Holly and Mike immediately started a family and moved to Ohio for work, then back to Michigan where they settled into Goodrich in 2005.   Holly immersed herself into the community in Goodrich, where she joined a Mom’s club and focused on raising their three children.   Once the children were all in school, Holly worked at Oaktree Elementary as a secretary and became actively engaged in the community she loved.

Holly was an amazing artist and athlete, and she shared her passion with and passed on her talents to her children.  She excelled at basketball and softball in high school and played softball in College at Aquinas.  She was also an avid runner, an activity that her and Mike shared as they ran 5 marathons together, along with many other half marathons, Crim 10 milers, 10K’s and 5K’s.  Holly was a winner and was driven to always give her all no matter how big or small the task.  She was always seeking the next challenge and would compete against anyone as hard in a triathlon as she would in a game of scrabble.   Holly was always pushing herself to be better, and spent years learning kickboxing and Krav Maga, playing indoor soccer, and even started playing roller derby.

She loved spending time with her big family and cherished the time she was able to spend with her friends attending concerts and taking part in community and school activities.  She was beyond grateful for all the love and support we received from family and friends and the entire community of Goodrich.  Nothing could ever compare to the love she had for her children, and it was that love that motivated her to fight for each and every day she could spend with them.

Holly was as genuine as a person you would ever meet.  She loved and cared for everyone more than herself and strived to make things better for everyone.  She never wanted the spotlight and wanted everyone to care about others as much as she did.  She spent time on many charitable causes, and traveled to El Salvador on a mission trip and had hoped to continue these efforts in her later years to help in any way she could to spread a message of hope and faith to those who needed it.

Mass of the Resurrection will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, November 28, 2020 at St. Anne Catholic Church, 825 S. Ortonville Road, Ortonville.  Fr. Gerry Frawley will officiate.  Interment will follow at Ortonville Cemetery.  Family will receive friends on Friday from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. at VILLAGE FUNERAL HOME, 135 South St., Ortonville and after 10:00 Saturday at the church.  To send a condolence to the family go to www.villagefh.com.

In lieu of Flowers, donations can be made in Holly’s name to Epilogos.org and TeamGleason.org.