Obituary of Francis West

Francis M. "Dutch" West, 83 of Cortland, NY, passed away Friday, September 1, 2017 at the Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, NY. Born in Cortland, NY, Dutch was the son of the late James Edward West and Susan Turney West. He was the youngest of six brothers; William, Robert, Joseph, Patrick, and Thomas; who have all predeceased Dutch, as well as his two sisters, Susan Clark and her husband Bill, and Margaret Hoadley and her husband Tom. Dutch was a graduate of St. Mary's School, in the class of 1952. He joined the U.S. Army, 82nd Airborne in 1954. In 1958, Dutch married his wife Elizabeth "Betty" West and together they started their family. Upon his Honorable discharge in 1956, he joined the N.Y.S. Police as a Trooper and was promoted to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation as an investigator in 1962 in Troop D. After retiring from the NYS Police in 1978, Dutch was employed by PennTraffic Co. as Asset Protection Supervisor for the P&C Foods stores in Southern and Central NY regions until 1999. Dutch was very humble and proud to be a Eucharist Minister for St. Mary's Parish since 1978. He is survived by his wife "Betty", son John West and his wife Vanessa, a daughter-in-law Pamela West, granddaughters Maggie and Maura West, and Autumn and Eden West, a sister-in-law Bette West in Florida, several wonderful nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. In addition to his parents and siblings, Dutch was predeceased by his son James West, sisters-in-law Mary West of Arizona, Johanne West of North Rose and brother-in-law William Bush. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Celebrated at 11am on Friday, September 8, 2017 at St. Mary's Church, Cortland. Friends are invited to visit the family from 1-4pm on Thursday, September 7, 2017 at Wright-Beard Funeral Home, 9 Lincoln Ave. Cortland, NY. In Lieu of flowers, those desiring may make contributions in Dutch's memory to St. Mary's School or St. Mary's Church. To offer online condolences, please visit www.wright-beard.com