Franziska Wirth Benes

It was a Sunday afternoon in 1996 when I first noticed Fran playing Coed Slow Pitch Softball in Irvine. We were on different teams. It was a few months later (after flirting for a while) when we had a first date at Islands Restaurant. I was living with my folks in Coto De Caza to help take care of my mom. (She passed in 1997 but did meet Fran.) Fran was single until we married in 1999 in Newport Beach on September 18th.

Fran had a three-bedroom Patio home in Irvine, and I moved in with her in 1997. In early 1998 Fran's brother and wife moved to Maui from Topanga Canyon, due to pet laws in Hawaii, their dog, Amy, needed to be quarantined in California for 3 months. We offered to take care of her during that time. Fran flew to Hawaii 3 months later. Amy still had to be kept in a kennel in Honolulu for a month before Larry and Barbie could bring her to Maui. Fortunately, laws have changed.

After getting to know and love Amy we decided to adopt a dog of our own: a year-old Red Merle Australian Shepard named "Rango" from Aussie Rescue of Southern California. Rango was a great dog. Friendly, a great traveler (we went to Pheonix and Tucson for Christmas), a great Frisbee dog, he loved agility and was a good host when we had parties and when friends stopped by with their dogs. We adopted another male Blue Merle Australian Shepard named Merlin and they lived 12 happy years together. Amy was the beginning of our passion for dogs. We have adopted a total of 5 rescue dogs, 4 Australian Shepherds and one female Border Collie.

Golf, Coed Softball & Bowling

We also played golf together. St. Goerge, Utah, Colorado, locally at the old El Toro Course and Costa Mesa. Fran played mostly at Bixby Nine-hole course in Long beach with girlfriends, sometimes at Costa Mesa and usually with her friends Cindi and Angie. Our Coed softball was in an Irvine Sunday afternoon league and with Fran’s first team the “Duck Up’s” in the city of Orange. We also enjoyed bowling together in a mixed league at Lake Forest lanes. Never too serious, it was mostly for beer and friends.

After High School

During her early years after high school, she went to Long Beach State. She lived with family friends in Seal Beach and with roommates later on. She graduated with a degree in graphic arts, started a business with a college friend " Ken Chandler". Although the business with Ken only lasted 2 years, their friendship lasted a lifetime. Fran enjoyed her work for many years at an AD Agency in Torrance that handled Toyota and many other large clients. She loved that job. Later on she became a substitute teacher in the Orange and Irvine School districts.

The Next Step

In September of 1999 we got married in Newport Beach and spent our honeymoon in Utah and Colorado touring Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyon Lands and Arches National Parks. We then stayed in Cortez, Colorado golfing and visiting Mesa Verde, Durango and Silverton. Silverton is the one of the stopping points of the train they used to film " Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". One of the highlights of our honeymoon was traveling the “San Juan Parkway”. A 200-mile loop of the southwestern mountains of Colorado, often called the “Alps of the Rockies”. This was in late September, so the fall colors were in their full glory.

Highlights of Fran’s Life

Growing up in Sedona in the fifties, Fran played in Oak Creek and was a child extra in the movie “3:10 to Yuma”. Fran really enjoyed doing make up for the “Pageant of the Masters” in Laguna Beach (she got her 15-year Pin and life-time membership in 2022 for her volunteer make up work there), and a Birthday Girls lunch group throughout the year with her close friends. Fran loved parties, and one in particular stands out: the annual New Year's Eve Costume parties at our good friends, Gus and Charlotte's 007, The Oscars, Egyptian, Las Vegas to name a few.Another highlight was the 2004 cruise to the Caribbean, arranged by Ken Chandler who was deeply involved in the travel industry. Thirty people went. We went to Belize to snorkel (they have the second largest coral reef in the world after the "Great Barrier Reef in Australia); Costa Rica to white water raft; and Panama to play golf. Before we left Florida we toured the Everglades. We started to hold our 4th of July party around 2000 and Christmas party before that, until 2 years ago. As the City of Irvine 4th of July celebration were held at one the of their high football fields next door, all we had to do is go out our back gate, bring a chair and watch the 25 minutes of Fireworks from our green belt. Our Christmas party was an annual tradition held on a Sunday a week before Christmas. The highlight was lighting non-drip candles on the tree (fire extinguisher at the ready but never used) and turn out the lights except on the tree and watch the candles burn out.

Courage, Hope and Grit

In 2003 Fran was diagnosed with Her2positive Breast Cancer. After chemotherapy, radiation and a double mastectomy, her cancer was in remission until 2014. The cancer had spread to a small tumor in her lungs, and she had a successful operation to remove the tumor. She battled breast cancer valiantly for 22 years having a cosmetic re-building of her breasts, fluid build-up, cancer in her vocal cords (for 3 months in 2016, she sounded like Minnie Mouse); she also endured a feeding tube in her stomach and special food. After radiation she recovered from the cancer tightening around her esophagus. About every 6 months she had to go into an out-patient procedure where they would put a balloon down her throat and expand it to increase the size so she could swallow.

I bring up her cancer experience as she lived with it for 22 years, always positive, living life and enjoying time with her friends, family and me, so there is hope for women with a breast cancer diagnosis. The treatments have improved over the last many years.

Fran felt fortunate to have a competent and caring Oncologist from USC Keck School of Medicine located with Hoag in Newport Beach and then Irvine. For the last 5 years he knew she had to be on chemotherapy for the rest of her life.

Although fatigued at times after chemotherapy she always had energy for parties and friends. She did have to end her volunteer job at the Pageant during the last two years. Despite many setbacks, Fran remained and lived a good life for over 20 years.

Giving Back

One of the traditions we started was an “Orphans Thanksgiving Party” for friends who didn’t have relatives to visit during the holidays or lived too far away. It started small at our house and grew to over 25 people over 25 years. As it grew bigger it shifted to other friend’s houses.

Always the Optimist

Fran made many new friends and kept her old ones. Several are from high school in live in Orange County, Monrovia, Redding, Denver, Florida, Arizona and parts beyond. She made friends easily and offered her home to help out her friends and children of friends. She was so well loved.

With all the new medical advancements there is always Hope. That is the message Fran wanted to leave as part of her legacy. "Breast Cancer" is very treatable, and it is possible to live for many

Years. She managed to do so for 22 years after her 2003 breast cancer diagnosis. I know her parting message is to make sure everyone knows. Many of her friends are now my friends and are there for me.