RIO RANCHO, N.M. — Rio Rancho Police Officer John Francis was beloved by the community who laid him to rest Saturday after he battled pancreatic cancer.

The final watch went out on the airwaves Saturday. It came as people gathered Saturday for services at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Rio Rancho.

Officer Francis died July 15. Community members say Francis devoted his time and service to initiatives like Special Olympics.

“He truly meant so much to this community and so much to the citizens of Rio Rancho. And so much to us. He was the quintessential Rio Rancho citizen,” Rio Rancho Police Captain Jacquelynn Reedy said.

Francis was with the Rio Rancho Police Department for 24 years. There was more to his life than his work, though.

“He had a very long and decorated career with Rio Rancho Police Department but also Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office. He wore so many hats as a firefighter, a paramedic. And he ended his career, so to speak, as an armed security guard at Rio Rancho High School,” Capt. Reedy said.

Capt. Reedy knows so much about Francis because she followed in his footsteps. She took over the public information officer role from him when he retired.

“I have to follow in the footsteps of John Francis. And those are some mighty big shoes to fill. I can never fill them,” she said.

His friends and family described Francis as humble.

“That was the best part about it. He never had an inflated ego. When I’d stop somebody, usually their first response was, ‘Oh I know your chief first of all.’ I’d say, ‘Oh really? Who is our chief?’ They’d say, ‘Oh John Francis, I know John Francis’ so he really was the face of Rio Rancho as we knew it,” said retired Rio Rancho Police Cpl. Justin Garcia.

Francis is survived by his wife, two children and five grandchildren. He was 62 years old.