Francis A. Harvey was born March 10, 1905 in Wichita, Kansas. A birthright Quaker, he was the son of Adolphus E. and Lydia Rachel (also known as Lyra) Tregelles. His mother died when he was sixteen days old, and his father later married Eva Barnard. The family moved to Texas.

Francis attended Westtown School and then Pennsylvania State College where he earned a degree in agricultural economics. While a student at Westtown, he met Elsie Brackbill, a Mennonite, while working at a farm that her brother managed. After their marriage on June 20, 1928, Francis was employed by the S.S. Kresge Co. (now K-mart) for 41 years, a job which required many moves for the family. Francis and Elsie had three children, Doris, Ann and Bruce, and raised the twin sons, Ken and Ray Milhous, of Francis's half-sister, Alice, who died in 1943.

After retirement in 1969, they moved to Malvern, PA. Francis served three four-year terms on the Malvern Borough Council and ten years as a Republican committeeman. In 1980, the Harveys moved to the Landis Homes Retirement Community in Lititz, PA. There they organized the Resident Assistance Program to help residents at the Landis Home with the costs of assisted living and health care services. The fund was created in the in the memory of Francis' brother-in-law, Milton Brackbill. In 2005, Francis celebrated his 100th birthday; his wife Elsie turned 100 the previous October. In later years, they became American Baptists.