Anna Frances (Grey) Armstrong (1915 - abt. 2011)

Born 10 May 1915 in Oak Park, Illinois, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died about 31 Oct 2011 at about age 96 in Frankfort, Michigan, United States

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Biography

The following excerpts from Fran's obituary provide a sketch of her life and family.

Frances Grey Armstrong, 96, of Idaho Falls, Idaho and recently of Solvang, California, passed away, August 31, 2011 in Frankfort.

Fran was born to Canadian parents, Alfred and Jane Grey in Oak Park, Illinois on May 10, 1915, where her father was a Congregational Minister. Frances had been coming to the Congregational Summer Assembly in Pilgrim Michigan every summer since she was 10 years old. When she was 18, she swam the 4.5 miles across Crystal Lake and went to a dance that night.

Frances attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, where she joined the Pi Beta Phi Sorority. Later she transferred to Pomona College in California where she graduated in Nursing in 1938.

Later that same year she married Arthur A. Armstrong who had also been a Crystal Lake Summer Assembly resident. Together Fran and Art had four children: Jeremy Thomas, Judy Smith, Jeffrey and James Armstrong.

While her children were in school, Fran was active in numerous charitable and school organizations including, President of the PTA and the Assistance League of Southern California. Fran continued to share her memories of Frankfort with her family by bringing her grandchildren, Kathy Thomas Barile and Doug Thomas, and great grandchildren, Brittany and Taylor to Frankfort for summer vacations.

Fran and Arthur lived most of their married life in Southern California, but Fran's heart always belonged to Crystal Lake. So in 2001, Fran bought a house near the Congregational Summer Assembly, set back in the woods on East Thomas Road. She named this house "Fran's Folly" and had 10 wonderful summers there with her loving friends and family.

Fran was an exceptional artist, first in oil paintings and later in beautiful Mosaics. Fran loved to travel and took numerous trips to Europe with her husband and children including visiting the mosaic tile factory in Venice, Italy where she chose her colored glass tiles. Fran was known to all her friends as a wonderful gourmet cook and a gracious hostess.

Fran was the fabric that held her family together, always ready to talk or listen when needed. She was a dear friend to many, and she will be missed by all.

Sources

• Information came from an Ancestry Chart completed by the Jeffrey family and also from the Monteith Family Tree.
• Frances Grey Armstrong, United States GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014, familysearch.org from her obituary in the Benzie County Record Patriot