Frances Veronica Link was born December 18, 1926 to William John and Elizabeth Wellman Link in West Point, Iowa. She lived there until she graduated high school.
When she graduated high school, she traveled to Pocatello, Idaho, to live with her sister and her husband, Georgina and Carl, and worked as a secretary.
When Carl and Georgie made their epic trip back to Iowa in 1946 (The Grand Tour of The West) Fran took a train from Pocatello to Las Vegas and met a nice young man from the Army Air Force on the train. She very much liked him, but she knew that Georgie would never allow her to spend time with him. See Walt’s note here.
She married George Skrandell on May 3, 1947 in West Point. They lived in Chicago, Illinois, and had three children. They later divorced.
Left -Fran, Vickie, Jackie, and Bodie in West Point.
Right – Georgie and Fran at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park. Both pictures were taken in 1961.
She married Robert Phillips on October 17, 1964 in Chicago. He died in 1983.
Left – Walt and Fran, Right – Fran and I, from visits to Chicago in 2015
A traveling birthday card
One of my favorite Fran stories is the birthday card that traveled back and forth between Fran and Georgie for many years. Starting in the early 1980s, they sent a card back and forth for each other’s birthday. They would write a little note and sign and date it, then send it to the other sister. Eventually, they added some paper inside since the card was covered inside and on the back. After Georgie passed, we sent the card back to Fran on her next birthday.
Aunt Fran died January 8, 2018, in Chicago. She was last of the sisters and we miss her amazing sense of humor.
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