Chicago Tribune (IL) - September 25, 1963

RITES PLANNED ON FRIDAY FOR VICE ADM. OLD 

Once Headed Illinois Toll Commission 

Deceased Name: Vice Adm. Francis P. Old

Funeral services for Vice Adm. Francis P. Old, 65, former commandant of the 9th naval district and former executve director of the Illinois Toll Road commission, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest. 

Adm. Old, who had resided at 451 Green Bay rd., Lake Forest, since his retirement from the navy in 1954, died Monday night in the Great Lakes Naval Training station hospital. A military memorial service will be conducted Monday at Arlington National cemetery, Arlington , Va. 

Commanded U. S. S. Indiana 

Commissioned an ensign in the navy in 1919, Adm. Old saw service on the North Atlantic patrol early in World War II, took part in the assault on Sicily and Salerno, and was chief of staff to the attack force commander in the landings at Anzio and southern France. 

He commanded the battleship U. S. S. Indiana in the Okinawa campaign, and at the Japanese surrender in 1945. 

Adviser to Chinese 

During 1948-49, he was naval adviser to the Republic of China, and from 1949 to 1951 commanded naval forces in the Philippines. From 1951 to his retirement in 1954, he served as 9th naval district commandant, with headquarters at the Great Lakes station. 

He held the Illinois toll road post in 1954-55, and then became vice chairman of Sumner Sollitt & Co., general contractors, Chicago. 

Adm. Old is survived by his widow, Mrs. Florine Graff Old; two daughters, Mrs. Beverly Baker and Mrs. Claudia Chandler, and four grandchildren.