Frances Irene Vaughan of Naples, Florida, and Olathe, Kansas, passed away June 26, 2021. Frances was born on March 18, 1922, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Frank and Irene Raw, who had three children, Frances, Patrick, and Gloria (Giles). Pat predeceased Frances. Frances and Gloria continued to be the closest friends right up until the end.
Frances attended Ruhl Elementary School and Ruhl Hartman High School, where she met her future husband Howard Vaughan, Jr. Frances attended Graceland College and then the University of Kansas, where she earned both her BS in Dietetics and Master of Science in Education. In addition to meeting Howard in high school, her favorite school memory came a few years later, when repeating as the winner of KU’s women’s intramural basketball league, two years in a row. This, of course, explains her devotion to all things Jayhawk, especially the basketball team.
While Howard and Frances were high school sweethearts, they made their wedding a little more dramatic. After flying in D-Day as an Army Air Corps Pilot, Howard received a brief leave to fly back from Europe later that year to surprise Frances while doing her internship at Boston General Hospital. Four days later, they were married in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 6, 1944. They enjoyed a long and loving marriage, Howard passing away on September 5, 2015, just one day shy of their 71st wedding anniversary.
Family has always been the most important part of Frances’ life. Whether it was raising their three daughters, Jill, Gloria, and Marcia, on Mohawk Lane in Leawood, Kansas, where they lived right next door to her parent’s house and her sister’s house, or the many family vacations with her daughters, their families, and the grand and great-grandchildren to Vail, Colorado and Naples, Florida, where Frances and Howard later settled. Frances enjoyed playing the piano and loved card games, including bridge with many of her friends from church as well as “Hand and Foot” with all her family. There are still some questions as to her interpretation of the rules …. but that is what made it fun, or at least memorable!
Frances taught home economics for 26 years in the Shawnee Mission School District. She was an excellent cook, but her apple pie took it to another level. It was the best any of us had ever tasted. She even offered to teach the family her secret since she did not use a written recipe. But try as we might, we have never duplicated that delicious dessert.
Frances, known as Mimi to her family, is survived by her daughters Jill (Bob) Moore, Gloria Pinkerton, Marcia (Chris) Bigelow; grandchildren Kelley (Greg) Manning, Craig (Andrea) Moore, Christopher (Lelaine) Bigelow, Matthew Bigelow, Justin (Tiffany) Pinkerton, and Jared Pinkerton; great-grandchildren Rebecca, Mikey, Max, and AJ Moore, Jacob and Joshua Manning, Kylee, Taylor, Brady, Jordie, and Breck Pinkerton, Jack Bigelow and Rhya Pinkerton; sister Gloria Giles; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A celebration of Frances’ life will be held on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Visitation with the family will begin at 10:00 am, followed by the 11: 00 am Celebration. Both will be held at the Mission Road Community of Christ Church, 7842 Mission Road, Prairie Village, Kansas, where Frances was a life-long member.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to a charity of your choice that embraces Frances’ favorite saying, “Be Kind to Others.”
