Francis Armstrong Middleditch was born on November 18, 1898 in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Robert Henry Middleditch and Elizabeth Middleditch. Francis was a graduate from Westfield High School in the class of 1914 and was the youngest member of his Princeton University class. After graduating he tried to enlist in the Navy but was rejected on account of his eyes. Then tried to enlist in the Marines but was rejected on account of his height and underweight, he being six foot, five inches tall. He then entered the Students Army Training Corps in Princeton and while he was employed by the American Express Company he intended to go abroad. Three days after being discharged by the army he sailed for France to look after the Foreign Exchange business of the American Express Company by whom he was employed. He had taken ill overseas and transported home to New York. He was brought to his parent’s home where he died after a two weeks illness following an attack of influenza. He is now buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, USA.

Source of information: The Courier-News, April 7, 1919