Local with deep ties to figure skating passes away

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Outi Johanna Francis of Bainbridge Island, who had a profound impact in the world of figure skating as an athlete and coach, passed away May 17 at the age of 58.

A celebration of life was held at The Bainbridge Island Rowing Club June 12, where friends and family of Outi gathered to remember and celebrate her illustrious life, consisting of growing up in Helsinki, Finland, coaching young skaters since she was 18 years old, and also being a figure skating coach in the Special Olympics.

“I think the biggest takeaway was that she instilled kind of…the joy and love of sport, and I think that’s a really important message,” Steven Francis, Outi’s widower, said.

Growing up in Finland, Outi was a nationally-ranked junior figure skater before suffering an injury that led her to pivot to coaching, per her Cook Family Funeral Home obituary. “At the age of 18, she started coaching a team of 17 skaters known as The Rockets (Helsinki Rockettes), an elite precision skating team. She was responsible for travel arrangements and choreography, taking her team to its first international competition, the 1989 Laval International in Canada. Outi coached The Rockets (The Rockettes) from 1985 to 1992. During those seasons, the team earned first-place finishes in precision skating in 1986 and from 1988 to 1990. Since then, now known as the Helsinki Rockettes have achieved a renowned status and recognition in their sport,” her obituary says.

Outi later on coached at the Bremerton Figure Skating Club, teaching young athletes and preparing them for regional tournaments and national tournaments.

Amber Cheremsak, 31, one of the skaters at the club who learned under the tutelage of Outi, says that she had known her for over 20 years, and that she helped train her when she was just ten years old after moving to Kitsap County. After Cheremsak’s first lesson with Outi, she immediately knew she wanted to continue working with her in figure skating. The connection the two established only grew, as Outi was part of her life “almost every day.”

“I grew up with a lot of medical issues and stuff, and so she would come over to Seattle and give my parents a break and sit with me when I’d be in the hospital,” Cheremsak said. “She was at my high school graduation, and she kind of showed up for everything in my life.”

Outi carried that “infectious enthusiasm” for helping young skaters in the Special Olympics as well.

Barb Pool, program coordinator for the Special Olympics, noted how Outi would work with the kids in the program on “simple things,” such as learning to march on their skates and helping break the fear of falling, all the while not separating them from other skaters involved in the program.

Pool also noted how Outi had the ability to help the kids achieve the confidence they needed, even when they would get frustrated due to having “many more things to overcome,” including technical skills like the ability to balance.

Outi additionally helped the Special Olympics out with skaters competing in “mainstream competition,” citing the belief she had in the skaters to compete with “regular” skaters on regional and national levels.