Frances Anne Magelssen

She was preceded in death by her parents Elizabeth and Thomas Matuziak and brothers Thomas Matusiak Jr. and James Mutusiak. She is survived by her husband Scott Magelssen, brother Michael Matusiak (Linda), sister Cathy Nethery (Gary, deceased), son Thomas Magelssen (Brittany), daughter Alice Magelssen-Green (Matthew), foster daughter Christelle Kamssu, and foster sons Brice Abraham, Nivelle Fotso, and Francis Taboue Tamnou. She was blessed by 7 grandchildren Miles, Kira, Mads, Charlotte Ann, Michael, Emmanuel Scott and Gabriel.

Fran was a woman of great faith, love and talent. She was born on March 26, 1957, in Portsmouth, Virginia, the youngest of 5 children. Fran's father came from a large, immigrant Polish family. Her mother haled from a rural North Carolina family. From these cultures she absorbed love of family, love of God, hard work, perseverance in adversity and self-sufficiency.

Fran was in the first generation of her family to attend college. She put herself through the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, earning a BS in Chemical Engineering. After graduation, she became a respected environmental technical and regulatory specialist in the chemical companies she worked for and eventually started her own consulting firm. She became the principle environmental auditor in a pioneering environmental and safety auditing program. She retired early to dedicate herself more completely to family and serve to God.

Fran was part of a generation that broke through gender barriers in the 1970's. She attended the University of Virginia four years after it went co-ed and entered a then male-dominated engineering field. One of her bosses told her that she was an inspiration to other young women engineers who saw her receiving awards for her work. She made a point of volunteering for career days at high schools whenever asked. The daughter of a truck driver and factory worker, she knew how important it was for bright young people, especially women, to hear about potential engineering careers.

Fran Married Scott in 1983, when they were working together in West Virginia. She lived her vocation of marriage in her love of husband, children and grandchildren.

Family always came first for Fran. She took a sabbatical from her professional career to give full time support to her young children and husband. She was her daughter's girl scout leader for 12 years, impressing all the fathers by her troop's taking top camping skill honors in a frigid winter camporee in Connecticut. When asked of which of her lifetime accomplishments she was the proudest, she listed three: wife, mother and girl scout leader.

Fran was a devout Catholic, strong in faith, hope and love. After moving to Texas and joining St. Laurence Catholic Church in Sugar Land, Fran's second career became service to God and neighbor. She was active in Meals on Wheels, Prison Ministry and Learn English Ministry. God called her to become a spiritual director, for which she completed the Spiritual Direction Institute's 3 year training and certification program and subsequently gave spiritual direction to St. Laurence parishioners and to prisoners. God called her again to become the parish's perpetual adoration coordinator, which was a 24/7 responsibility, organizing several hundred volunteers. Fran came to know and was loved by dozens of prisoners and hundreds of parishioners.

Fran was a person of many interests and talents. Known as "math girl" in school, her technical skills and attention to detail made her a successful engineer. She played the cello in community orchestras in Danbury Connecticut and in Fort Bend County. As a young woman, she fiercely played soccer and softball. After moving to Texas, she raised money for MS research by bicycling 150 miles from Katy to Austin several times. She took up Marathon running and taught herself to swim to participate in triathlons combining swimming, biking and running events, including three grueling Half Iron Men.

Highly adventuresome, Fran explored caves, walked across the width of England, hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, canoed through whitewater rapids, drove to Alaska and snorkeled in Hawaii. She spent two volunteer winters in Yellowstone Park where she drove a bus on icy roads, cross country skied and snowshoed, frequently in subzero temperatures, to support field education courses. In her spare time, Fran loved to read, cook, solve puzzles, play chess, bridge and Scrabble and ride her bike.

Fran did all these things, with great faith, love, enthusiasm and perseverance, while coping with progressive loss of vision and continuing back pain throughout her adult life. In the past year, as her terrible disease robbed her of her capabilities, she lost neither faith nor love, speaking to the end the words, "Jesus I trust in you," and to her husband, "I love you."

Visitation will be held on Sunday, June 21, 2026, at Earthman Southwest Funeral Home, 12555 S. Kirkwood Rd in Stafford, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The rosary will start at 7:00 p.m., followed by a vigil service.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Monday, June 22, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Laurence Catholic Church, 3100 Sweetwater Blvd, in Sugar Land, with a reception following Mass.

The family requests donations to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in lieu of flowers.