Frances was born Feb 1, 1921, in Glidden, Iowa, to of Rev. Guy J. Fansher and Ella Russell Fansher in the parsonage of the Methodist Church. Her mother died when she was only 3 and she spent several years living with relatives in Chicago before her father remarried. A talented piano player, she received a marimba for her 14th birthday, an extravagant gift from her parents. After graduating from Mt. Pleasant High School she went on to attended Cornell College, where she played the tympany in the Symphony Orchestra. Discouraged from pursuing a career in engineering, she took the required math and physics courses anyway on the way to a degree in Art in 1942. She met her future husband, Ray, a handsome basketball player at nearby Iowa Wesleyan College. During the years of WWII, she worked as an engineering draftsman in Beloit, Wisc. while she waited for Ray to return from the war. She was plainly told she would make less than her male coworkers.
After marrying in 1946,Fran and Ray moved to Decatur, Ill in 1951 and raised two daughters in a small yellow house with a big yard, a home filled with books, music and fun. The family took long camping trips and Fran passed along her love of nature and fishing to her youngest daughter.Fran resumed her career in the mid 1960's, eventually retiring as an engineer from Caterpillar in 1982. In retirement she enjoyed travelling, bridge clubs, gardening and creating. She was a long time member of Grace United Methodist Church of Decatur.
She was preceded in death by her parents; step-mother Lucile Snyder; one brother Russell Fansher; and four sisters Ruth Fansher; Harriet Messer; Evelyn Bredensteiner, and Marilyn Pickens. She leaves behind 2 daughters, 2 granddaughters, 1 grandson, and 5 great grandchildren.
She died peacefully December 29, 2016 , at Meadows Mennonite Retirement Community, after a 12 battle with Parkinson's Dementia. Generous, talented, and wickedly smart, she lived her life through to the end with humor and courage.