Francis Sargent
Francis Williams Sargent (July 29, 1915 – October 22, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Massachusetts from 1969 to 1975. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 63rd lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1967 to 1971. In 1969, he became acting governor when John A. Volpe resigned to become Secretary of Transportation under the Nixon Administration. In 1970, he was elected governor in his own right, defeating the Democratic Party's nominee Kevin White. He lost reelection in 1974 to Democrat Michael Dukakis, who would go on to be the Democratic Party's nominee for President in 1988.
For other people named Francis Sargent, see Frank Sargent.
Francis Sargent
Donald Dwight
October 22, 1998 (aged 83)
Dover, Massachusetts, U.S.
Highland Cemetery, Dover, Massachusetts
Jessie Sargent (1938–1998)
10th Mountain Division
Early life, education, and early career[edit]
Sargent was born in 1915 in Hamilton, Massachusetts, the son of Margery (Lee) and Francis Williams Sargent.[1] He was known for his sharp wit and self-deprecating manner. A Republican, "Sarge" graduated from Charles River School, and then Noble and Greenough School.
Sargent was a student in the architecture program (class of 1939) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a classmate and friend of architect I.M. Pei. Sargent received a special degree in architecture after completing four years of what was then a five-year program, rather than a normal graduation.[2]
After MIT, Sargent worked for the architectural firm of Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott as a draftsman, leaving to work as a carpenter for a general contractor to learn the building trade. He then started his own firm, Sargent & Sweeney.[3]
Sargent served in World War II, fighting in Italy, earned a Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. He enlisted in 1942, volunteered for the ski troops, and rose from private to corporal to sergeant to lieutenant to captain while serving with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy.[3]
After the war, Sargent moved with his family to Orleans on Cape Cod, where he and his son started and ran the Goose Hummock sporting goods store, beginning in 1946.[4]
Personal life[edit]
Sargent married Jessie Fay Sargent in 1938. She wrote a memoir in 1973 about their time in office, entitled The Governor's Wife: A View from Within. In 1969, she helped to launch the Doric Dame, a group of volunteers that led tours of the Massachusetts State House.[17] They had a son, Francis W. "Bill" Sargent, Jr., and two daughters, Fay and Jessie (Jay).[18]
In the Massachusetts general election of 1978, Sargent's son was considered by the State Republican Committee to succeed William A. Casey as the Republican nominee for Massachusetts State Auditor after Casey dropped out to support Democrat Edward J. King in the Governor's race.[19] In 1996, Sargent's son was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives seat in Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in 1996. He lost the Republican nomination to Edward B. Teague III.[20]
Sargent died on October 21, 1998, in Dover, Massachusetts.[21][22] His wife Jessie died on August 15, 2008.[23]