Frances Leah Pregley

Frances was born in Fairmont, WV to Kathleen and Patrick Moran. She is survived by her daughter, Kimberly Smith; her granddaughters, Melissa Waid (Jessie) and Jennifer Bryant (Daniel); her great-grandchildren, Josephine, Daniel, Rositta, Cadence, Jessie, Jacob, Samuel, and Walter; and her ex son-in-law, Kevin Smith.

She was preceded in death by her mother and father, along with her siblings, Margaret Turner, John Moran, Barbara Smith, Nancy Cavicchio, and David Moran.

Frances was the first of her immediate family to pursue higher education, graduating from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Parkersburg, WV. She dedicated her professional life to nursing, including many years as a pediatric nurse and a second career with the Red Cross as she neared retirement.

In a time when single parenthood was frowned upon, Frances was a proud mother and gifted her only daughter with an outstanding Catholic school education and the absolute certainty that she could grow up to be whatever she wanted.

Frances was a dedicated WVU football enthusiast and often shouted encouragement to the players by name (albeit via her TV). Since she had regularly helped them donate blood, she was known for adding personal comments based on each player’s bravery (or lack thereof) during their donations. Even after she moved away from West Virginia, she and her sisters would call each other on the phone at every touchdown.

Frances was truly talented with young children, loving nothing more than playing with babies for hours on end. She also loved jitterbugging with her sisters and joining in ruthless family card games.

We will miss her.