Goodbye DUDE
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On June 25th the pinball community lost an amazing dude, Eric Francis, partner in Stern distributor The Pinball Dudes in Jupiter FL. Although many knew him through hosting IFPA sanctioned tournaments at his retail store, transacting on a pinball deal, passionately discussing all things pinball or competing together in an event, he was even more known as a 5-time world jet ski race champion and number one racer in the official P1 AquaX world standings. Eric “The Eagle” Francis lost his life during a pro jet ski Race in Guadeloupe Mexico. Racing and local authorities are working to determine the cause. The outpouring of condolences by so many in both communities is a testament to his generous and giving nature, approachable positive personality and fierceness as an unrelenting competitor. Our heart goes out to his wife Sophie who is currently 8 months pregnant & their 1 year old Willow. As quoted in The Watercraft Journal: “We may have lost Eric, but The Eagle gained his wings.” Godspeed dude.
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Eric was my boss at The Pinball Dudes. He took me on as his intern in 2019, and I returned there after college in 2021 full time. Eric was not just my boss though. He wound up becoming one of my best friends. I moved here to Jupiter 5 years ago, and when I expressed to him about how hard it was to make friends post college, he said “Wait, I’m your friend!” He was very sweet.
He taught me how to be a pinball technician, and he did a lot for me in the way of helping me to become a healthier person. He taught me different nutrition and exercise things. We also had lots of fun discussions, including when he would make fun of me for my lack of movie watching. Sorry Eric, I still haven’t seen Twister. In one of our last days that we hung out with each other, he talked about how he wanted to buy a giant movie theater to move the Dudes into. He was really funny.
When I first started as an intern, the first machine he taught me to work on was a Taxi. It was so cool, because that’s the first game I ever remember playing as a kid. To think just a few years later, for Christmas he got me a Taxi of my own. He said he hoped it would inspire me to keep going and growing in the pinball industry.
Him and our friend Norma Jennings, who has also since passed, taught me how to be a tournament director. For the past year, I’ve been learning the tips and tricks to be the best I could. I am going to continue our tournaments at The Pinball Dudes. I didn’t think it was time to have to do it all on my own, but I’m adamant that I can do it for him.
If you never got to meet him, he was a very funny and compassionate guy. He had a huge passion for jstskiing and pinball. He was also a great family man who adored his wife Sophie and baby Willow. I’m going to miss him a whole lot.
Thank you for my Taxi. Thank you for training me as a technician. Thanks for helping me run my tournaments. Thanks for the birthday cakes. Thanks for pizza Fridays. Thank you for being my boss. Thank you for all of the praise. Thank you for being so kind. Thank you for being my best friend.
We will miss you Eric.
GodSpeed. You will always be with us. And i hope that Sophie ends up owning those 6 French islands…
I would like to share my Facebook comment about my friend Eric.
I too am going to miss Eric very much as a friend and pinball competitor. We shared the same passion with regards to not only playing pinball but working in the industry as repair techs and knowing the “who’s who”. That’s where him and I clicked, over 4 years ago. I envied Eric. I used to love stopping by to visit at least once a week to say hi. Everything about Eric was contagious. He had this smile about him that seemed to never go away. He always looked forward to conversating with whoever would walk through the door and would always find time in his busy schedule, to jump in and play a game of doubles. Say hi to my Mom for me Eric. I know you’re both looking down smiling right now. ❤️