Frances Stewart Quenin of Fort Smith, AR died peacefully on July 23 at Brookdale Assisted Living. She was born on October 31, 1923 in Martin, Tennessee, the daughter of Edna Wharton Stewart and Dr. John McTyre Stewart. She was a splendid, eclectic cook, a master gardener, a canny Bridge player, an accomplished pianist, a deft seamstress, knitter and crocheter, and a gracious, vivacious hostess who loved throwing parties. She thought her children were the smartest, prettiest, most handsome children in the universe, although she always bemoaned the fact that they “talk like Yankees.” She was a professional back seat driver.
She attended Harding College and the University of Arkansas and could call the hogs with the best of them. After college, she taught school in Van Buren, Arkansas until the birth of her son John, when she became a fulltime homemaker. She was a volunteer with Meals on Wheels for many years, and was also a candy striper at a local hospital in Pittsburgh, PA.
She followed her beloved husband, Paul, around the world and back again, making a home for her family in Colorado, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tokyo, Mexico City, Ankara and Izmit Turkey, and finally, Fort Smith, where they chose to retire. She could haggle at the marketplace and give a taxi driver directions in Spanish, Japanese and Turkish.
She loved a bawdy joke so long as it didn’t contain any “bad” words. She loved Jonathan Winters, but her favorite performer was Victor Borge. She believed that talking to her plants and flowers made them grow more sturdy and beautiful. She imbued her children with her passionate love of books and music. She loved dogs but hated cats. She put her Snickers bars in the freezer, claiming they tasted better frozen. She had a Hershey bar and a diet Dr. Pepper every day of life, at least when she lived in the United States. Wherever she was, she had a daily vodka and tonic, with olives as well as a lime wedge.
She was a long-time, devoted member of the West Ark Church of Christ in Fort Smith.
She was predeceased by her husband Paul and her sister Josephine Stewart Clark. A memorial service will be held sometime after the pandemic is over. She will be interred in the VA Cemetery in Fort Smith, beside her husband.
She is survived by her children, Ann Stewart Quenin (Eileen Blanchette), John Andrews Quenin and Paul Price Quenin, Jr. (Rachel Henderson), her grandchild Leigh Ann Quenasse (Dylan Quenasse), her great grandchild Luca Paul Quenasse, and several nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews.
Contributions in her memory may be made to M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Services are entrusted to Edwards Funeral Home.
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