BLUFFTON, Ohio — Bluffton University is preparing to host the Friday funeral services for Officer Dominic Francis.
Francis, who was killed in the line of duty March 31, will be laid to rest at Clymer Cemetery in Mt. Cory following Friday's funeral in Bluffton.
You can watch the service live on air and online. The funeral is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Friday.
Doors to the university's Sommer Center will open at 9 a.m. Friday. The university expects 4,000 to 5,000 attendees, including law enforcement/first responders from across the country.
Seating in the Sommer Center will be available on a first come, first served basis. Overflow seating will be in Founders Gym and Yoder Recital Hall, also on Bluffton’s campus.
The following Bluffton roads will be closed to traffic starting at 8 a.m. to accommodate a motorcade: Bentley Road from Augsburger Road to Columbus Grove-Bluffton Road/Grove Street and Elm Street from Bentley Road to Main Street.
Parking on campus will be limited to university faculty, staff and students and law enforcement/first responders. Bluffton residents planning to attend the funeral are asked to walk to the service. Parking for all others will be limited to street parking throughout the village.
The burial will follow in Clymer Cemetery in Mt. Cory. Following the funeral, a procession of law enforcement officers and first responders will depart for Clymer Cemetery.
All are welcome to pay their respects along the route, with the procession to begin at about 12:30 p.m.. Vehicles will turn right out of the Sommer center parking lot onto Elm Street and then left on Main Street/County Road 313 in Bluffton to Cory-Rawson School.
The procession will make a loop through the bus entrance and parking lot and will proceed back to County Road 313. The route will turn right on State Route 235 and through Mt. Cory with the procession continuing north to Township Road 37 and to Clymer Cemetery, where the burial will be private. All are welcome to line the route to pay their respects to Officer Francis.
Anyone who wishes to offer condolences or send flowers to the family can do so online here.
For those who want to donate, memorial contributions can be sent to the FOP Lodge 20 Foundation at PO Box 1335, Findlay, OH 45840.
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