Francis Bayles Memorial Website
1937 / 1965 
My brother was a talented photographer
who lost his life in a plane crash
two days after his 28th birthday.
He now has grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are starting to appear.
I want so much for them to grow up knowing the wonderful person he was.
The best way is by looking at the photographs he took.
Francis had an all-abiding love for Chico State College,
(now California State University - Chico),
Let's start there, where some of his happiest memories were....
Starting on that great "Marshall Missle" photo,
let's guess what my brother's favorite sport was...
- That's right -- FOOTBALL ! -
Whether it was a high school game or the 49ers at Candlestick Park
he loved the game, and some of his best photos were taken on the edges of the field.
- The "Wildcat" was the school mascot, and Francis enjoyed
including him in campus photos whenever possible.
(I'll never forget seeing the original print of the "Homecoming"
photo on the studio workbench when I was only nine years old and
thinking it was the most amazing picture I'd ever seen.)
"The Administration building glows with the beckoning lights of Christmas."
- the beginning of Acker Gymnasium -
(from CSU-Chico Digital Collections) Title: Men's Gym / Original date: ca. 1961 / Identifier: sc917
Photographer: Bayles, Francis / Original item size: 130x245mm / Original medium: Silver gelatin
Description: Construction of the new men's gym, began in the Fall of 1960.
- the old gym building -
- When the news of the Great Tragedy of 1964 became known, Francis evidently gave his photo of a future President,
taken when John F. Kennedy came through our home town of Red Bluff on a special "speech train" with Governor Pat Brown,
to the 1964 yearbook to use, and then also took photos of the mourning students on campus to surround it.
- Chancellor Clenn Kendall was a great friend to Francis, and a great admirer of his work. -
(Notice the "Bayles Studio & Camera Shop" stamp on his portrait.) -
- Kendall Hall -
- Francis knew how to make a photo of a plain building look more interesting;
photograph it in shadows, put people in the picture.
- building stages -
- Trinity Hall -
They met in an art class where Pete was the acknowledged next up-and-coming "modern artist." He later
became a truly beloved high school art instructor in Napa before losing a battle to cancer in 2006.
college registration was like in the days before the computer. -
Photos of Francis