Born March 30, 1907, in San Felipe, Chile, this son was christened Alphone Emile Léon (as per the French custom of giving their sons three "prénoms," or given names). Alfonso always insisted he had a distinct memory of flags, bunting, etc. as Chile celebrated its centennial in 1910. He would have been three and a half yers old. So...maybe. He liked to think so, anyway.

Alfonso attended the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, graduating in medicine in 1931. (Among the graduates that year was a young man named Salvador Allende.) Since this was during the Depression, Alfonso was prepared to go anywhere for a position that paid more than a pittance. He nearly went south to Punta Arenas, but instead wound up working for the Americans in Chuquicamata, where he gradually added English to the canon of languages in which he became fluent, and where he met a young Canadian nurse named Catherine (Kay) Mullin. They married and eventually had three daughters, all of whom were born in the old hospital in Chuqui. Needless to say, his daughters were all VERY glad Alfonso did not go to Punta Arenas.

When Kay first met Alfonso, she thought his name was "Francis," because, so the story goes, there were several physicians on staff at the time who were of German descent who called Alfonso, "Francés," or "Frenchman." The name stuck, anyway, and for years he was called Francis by the English-speaking community.

Kay and Francis would live in Chuqui until he retired in 1967, with a hiatus from 1944 to 1947 when they went to the United States and Canada. During this time, Francis acquired a fellowship in pediatrics while working at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Their daughters, Constance, Irene (Renee) and Jeanne (Gigi), eventually attended high school in Canada. The oldest, Connie, trained as a nurse but returned to Chuqui to marry a young geologist she had met named Ed Baumgartner. Ed worked in the mine. (In those days there was great rivalry between the mine and the plant, not to mention the earlier rivalry with the American company, Foley Brothers, who built the sulphide plant in the early 1950s). Ed and Connie's children were born at the then-new Roy H. Glover Hospital. These children "christened" their grandfather, "Ito," after their first attempts to say "Abuelito." It was the name by which all his five grandchildren and great-grandchildren, both American and Canadian, would always know him.

Alfonso ("Francis") Darricades had a career with the broad scope of the small-town family practicioner, a practice made unique by the blend of patients, which included chilenos, americanos, and his extended practice among the indigenous people in remote locations of the pampa. He was always curious about life, a man for all seasons whose interests included the humanities. For a time he contributed a column to the newspaper "El Pampa," which was printed on a huge (to his daughters' eyes, anyway), old black printing press on premises opposite the Teatro Chile in the "new camp" (Campamento Nuevo) as it was then known. Alfonso's foray into the arts was under the pen name, Vesalius, after the great 16th century anatomist.

When Alfonso retired, he and Kay moved to California, close to the Baumgartners, where the indefatigable "Francis" pursued a career in real estate. He and Kay enjoyed their San Jose home for over 20 years and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary before his health failed and he finally entered a nursing home. Even here, Alfonso continued to impart some of his zest to his family members of all generations whenever they visited him.