South Bay is mourning the loss of a charismatic community leader.
Francine Maigue died Tuesday after battling Stage 4 lung cancer for three years. In addition to acting as a district director for former California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Maigue was on the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center Advisory Board and taught countless people how to dance.
“Francine wasn’t just a good person. She was the best person,” said Gonzalez Fletcher.
Maigue was only 41. She was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer even though she never smoked and didn’t have a family history of the disease. NBC 7 spoke with Maigue in 2021 about a new treatment she was undergoing at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center’s Barnhart Cancer Center. She was energetic and refused to let her diagnoses get her down.
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“Her positive attitude and her fortitude really kept her going,” said Gonzalez Fletcher.
The current Secretary/Treasurer of the San Diego Counties Labor Council said she first met Maigue 15 years ago when Francine taught Gonzalez Fletcher’s daughter how to dance. The former Assemblywoman hired Maigue as a District Director because of her love for San Diego’s South Bay communities.
“I think anytime you see a picture of Francine, you see her warmth and that’s what it is,” smiled Gonzalez Fletcher. “Just absolutely warm and positive; looking for the best in people; believing in the best of people; believing that people can do their greatest.”
“You just don’t forget someone like that,” said Beverly Codallos.
Codallos is the Director of Development at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. She was on the hospital’s advisory board with Maigue as it was raising funds for the hospital’s new tower. Codallos said Maigue never let her cancer treatments get in the way of work.
“You just wouldn’t even know,” shrugged Codallos. “You wouldn’t know that she was sick because she was so excited to still be able to do things for the hospital.”
Codallos said Maigue was integral in raising money for the hospital and injecting energy into stuffy board meetings.
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“She just has a positive attitude,” Codallos sighed. “And now that she’s passed, I just feel like we’ve been robbed.”
“I’m glad she’s not in pain but we’ll miss her dearly,” concluded Gonzalez Fletcher. “She believed in the best of us. She really did.”
Maigue’s family said viewing and wake will be held at the Greenwood Memorial Park on March 14 and 15 from 5 to 9 p.m. Her funeral will be on March 16 at 1 p.m. The family said everyone is welcome to attend.
