Francisco "Franco" Valles, Jr.

Francisco “Franco” Valles, Jr. 70, passed away peacefully on October 14, 2019, surrounded by his wife and 2 daughters after battling cancer for the previous 2 ½ years.

Franco was born on April 24, 1949 in El Paso, TX to Francisco & Felipa Valles, Sr. While in El Paso, Franco met Maria Irene (Perez) in 1968 and they were married in 1971. In 1973 Franco and his family moved to Davenport, Iowa, and then moved to Des Moines in 1976 where he has resided since. Together they had three children, Ursula, Franky & Iris. Franco graduated with his Associates degree from DMACC for Electrical Heating & A/C.

Franco retired in January 2018 from the City of Des Moines where he worked for 28 years at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Franco was also a long-time member of the Knights of Columbus, where he ended his journey as a Grand Knight. Since 1983, Franco and his wife, Irene, spent many hours cooking and providing meals and food for the homeless and senior citizen community of Downtown Des Moines through their parish, St. Ambrose Cathedral. Franco and his wife were awarded for their long-time service in 2006 by the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines.

Franco enjoyed socializing, playing pool, and entertaining his family, especially his grandsons.

Franco was preceded in death by his son, Francisco Felipe “Franky” Valles, his beloved parents, Francisco & Felipa Valles Sr, and his brothers; Esteban & Jesse Valles

Franco is survived by his wife, Maria Irene, his daughters; Ursula (Antonio), Iris, three grandsons; Cesar Antonio & Diego Ricardo Vega-Valles, and Sebastian Felipe Valles. His siblings; Ester Perez, Mary Valles, Martha Enriquez, Alicia (Ruben) Limon, Margarita (Beto) Cobos, Irma (Sergio) Hurtado, Annie Valles, Manuel Valles, Angie Valles, Guadalupe (Julian) Guevara, Grace Velasquez, Lilly (Hector) Navarro, Martin (Dolly) Valles, and many other nieces, nephews and god-children.

In August 2018, Franco’s medical team gave him 2-6 months to live, but, if you knew Franco, you know how stubborn he was. He told them no, it would be on his time, and it would be his decision! Franco lived 14 months and 4 days after he was told that, and he was stubborn until the very end.

The family would like to send a special Thank You to Des Moines Fire Station #8 because on December 10, 2017, Franco was given another chance to live and to spend more time with his family and for that we are eternally grateful.
The family will greet friends from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with a 5:30 p.m. Rosary on Friday, October 18, 2019 at Hamilton’s Southtown Funeral Home, 5400 SW 9th Street. The funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, October 19th at the funeral home followed by burial at Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery.

Condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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