STILLWATER - Although David Francis returned home and planned a celebration of life service for his son Jon, who went missing more than three weeks ago in an Idaho mountain range, the father plans to head back there this Thursday.

"Jon and I were a lot alike," David Francis said. "One of the characteristics we share is persistence."

David and his wife Linda Francis of Stillwater Township left Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains earlier this month, temporarily stopping the search for their lost son because "we'd run out of volunteers and resources and search dogs," David said.

Jon, 24, a 2000 Stillwater Area High School graduate, was working in a Bible camp in the Sawtooth range when he went missing July 15 on a solo day hike up the nearly 10,000-foot Sawtooth peak of Grand Mogul. Hundreds of volunteers have since scoured the mountain with no success.

David and Linda took Jon's car, found on the mountain, and drove it to the Ogden, Utah Ascension Lutheran Church where Jon was a youth minister. It was there that the parents saw firsthand the impact their son had on the people with whom he was working.

"You're son was amazing, he was such a gift," David said, recalling the words of those in Utah. "He was authentic. He had an authentic faith that attracted people, especially young people. We're hearing story after story of how much joy and love Jon brought to so many people."

The family will hold a service at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9 at Stillwater's Ascension Episcopal Church, located at 214 N. Third St. It will be a Celtic Eucharist to mark Jon's Irish heritage.

"We want it to be a celebration of Jon's life and ministry," David said. "I'm focused on honoring my son. He was a remarkable young man; a man of deep faith."

The search in Idaho has left Jon's father somewhat frustrated. The Custer County, Idaho, sheriff pronounced Jon dead after two days.

"They weren't transparent," David said of Idaho authorities. "They didn't invite us into the discussions or the decision-making process."

David will head back to Idaho this Thursday with a team of 20, including Sawtooth mountain guides and search dogs. The lack of search dogs throughout the process also irked David, who said a dog never reached the peak of Grand Mogul until day 21, "when they should have been there on day 1."

A star high school runner and the top competitor on his Augustana College cross country team, Jon was in the process of applying for seminary school. David remembered when Jon called him to tell him that he'd converted to Lutheranism.

"You'll still be a Christian won't you? 'Yes Dad,'" David said, recalling a past conversation. "We were so proud of him, a wonderful son."

Faith has always been a Francis family tradition, and for Jon, "It was caught as well as taught," David said.

"But there was a time when we had to drag his butt out of bed to go to church," David said. "His mother did that. ... He grew to be a man of deep faith."

Grieving has been difficult for David and his wife. Linda cries at night, while David cries during the day, he said.

Through it all, though, the family will continue searching for Jon until he's found.

"People call it closure," David said. "I call it an ability to give final rites."

Despite having endured so much over the past month, David said he still plans to run for state Senate in District 52. The DFLer seemed to be channeling one of Jon's favorite Bible passages, 2 Timothy 4:7.

"I'll fight the good fight, I'll run the course," he said. "I'll keep the faith. I plan to win."

The hardest part of losing Jon, David said, has been the realization that he may never see his son again.

"He was such a joy to be with," he said. "It's kind of selfish, but I will miss Jon's smiles and his hugs."

David isn't exactly sure what he'll say at the Sept. 9 service, when he'll deliver the eulogy. He only knows that "there have been a lot of broken hearts."

A guest book on the family's Web site, www.jonfrancis.org, lists messages from family, friends, Jon's classmates and others of hope, support, condolence and many prayers.

"They miss him," he said. "We all miss him."