Frances Browning

Frances was born in Ray, Arizona on September 19, 1940 to Marcelina Navarro and Ruben Barrios. She was the third of five children. When Frances was young, her family moved to Los Angeles. She went to Irving Junior High School. Frances was quite the competitor and loved many sports. Her favorite sport was softball. Frances also loved attending dances and entering dance contests to dance to the Bop. Another passion she had was roller skating. Just before graduating from high school, Frances tried out for the roller derby in Hollywood. It was a rude awakening when she found out how much it hurt to be thrown over the bar. Her roller derby career was over before it began, but her love for the sport continued on. Frances graduated from Franklin High School in 1958. After graduating high school, Frances began her working career at 19 years old. She started working at Herron Optical Lab where she met the love of her life, Claude Browning (but their love didn’t blossom until he returned from the Army). After three years of working together, Claude went into the Army while Frances kept working at Herron. While Claude was away on duty, she wrote him many letters and to her dismay she didn’t receive a response. When Claude returned from service, he went back to work at Herron. Soon thereafter, Claude and Frances went to a holiday party together and that was the beginning of a lifelong marriage. Frances and Claude married on June 18, 1966 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas was the perfect place for Frances to marry. She loved to gamble and her love for gambling began with her mother. During this time, Frances quit working at Herron and decided to stay home. Frances wasn’t meant to be a stay at home wife; she returned to work at Harold Johnson Optical Lab only about a year later (this is where she would retire from after 27 years). As newlyweds, Frances and Claude enjoyed watching roller derby every Saturday night at Olympic Auditorium. Like roller derby- They would go on to develop other joint passions, including bowling and tennis, and of course their trips to Vegas continued. Frances was also a true blue Dodger fan and a Laker fan for many years. Frances and Claude extended their family to three when their only daughter Dolores was born in 1977. Frances did everything for those she loved; she was all about family. Frances decided to retire from work in 1995 because she didn’t want to miss a game Dolores played her senior year of high school. Frances devoted her life to her family. Soon Frances’ family grew and she was blessed with being able to take care of her niece, Christina’s children: Olivia, Christian and Victoria. In 2008, Frances’ first grandchild, Brooke, was born. Frances was happiest when taking care of the children in her life. Everything Frances did revolved around these kids, and then she was ecstatic to welcome her grandson Colton into the world in 2011. Frances was loved by many and valued by all. She leaves behind not only the love she shared but her wisdom, her experiences, and her stories. Frances is survived by her husband Claude, her daughter Dolores and son-in-law Alessio, her grandchildren Brooke and Colton, her niece Christina and husband Adriel, her nieces Olivia and Victoria, her nephew Christian, her brother Ruben and sister-in-law Elsa, her nephew James and wife Jodi, her niece Arianna and nephew Max, her nephew Larry, her brother Freddy, her sister-in-law Loretta and many more nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Olivia and Dolores, her brother-in-law Gene, her brother-in-law Neno, and her nephew Rudy. A memorial service and celebration of life will be held at Luyben Family Mortuary 5161 E. Arbor Road, Long Beach, CA 90808 at 2 p.m. on Friday, September 12, 2014. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a memory doing one of Frances’ favorite things or treat a sweet child in your life to something special.