Frances Slater was born September 26, 1927, near Blue Ridge, Collin County, Texas. She died April 29, 2022, at the age of 94 in Navasota, Grimes County, Texas.
Frances, the only child of John Delos Box and Lorene Porter Box, was born at the family home. Her early school days were in the one-room Dixon School. She sometimes rode her horse to school, but more often walked the farm fence line to get to class. She graduated as valedictorian from Blue Ridge High School in 1944. She majored in chemistry at Texas State College for Women (now TWU), Denton, and upon graduating went to work for DuPont in Orange, Texas.
Frances met U.S. Navy sailor Stanley Slater at a USO dance in Orange. The farm girl married the city boy on September 20, 1950, in Stan’s hometown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
When Stan was assigned to Kodiak Island, Alaska, Fran moved from Orange to join him. In the 1950s, she packed her car and drove from Texas to Seattle, Washington, then went by ship on to Kodiak. They lived in naval housing, and Fran was active in the Navy Wives Club. Their first daughter was born in Kodiak.
In the late 1950s they moved to Norfolk, Virginia.
Fran and Stan also lived in California during his 20-year military career. Their second and third daughters were born in Alameda and San Diego. After his retirement from service they moved to Blue Ridge, in 1964, and Stan began working for Sears. They were long-time active members of the Blue Ridge United Methodist Church, where Fran was a Sunday school teacher, United Methodist Women’s leader, and treasurer.
Stan died in 1992.
Fran loved her life as a homemaker. She made all her daughters’ wedding dresses. Her turkey and cornbread dressing were enjoyed by many. She worked part-time in the Blue Ridge Post Office.
She held a number of community volunteer roles, including serving as president of the Blue Ridge PTA. She contributed her knowledge to the Collin County Historical Society. With that group, she was instrumental in securing two historical markers, one at the Dixon School site and one on the Blue Ridge city square. She wrote the history of Blue Ridge for the nation’s bicentennial, and that text is on the city marker. She was president of the Blue Ridge PTA.
Fran was elected to the Blue Ridge City Council in 2000 and served as mayor from 2001-2005. She helped secure the city’s financial future by obtaining grants to upgrade the aging water and sewer systems and improving administrative procedures.
In 2017, Fran moved from Blue Ridge to Tomball, Texas, to be closer to family.
Among survivors are daughters Holly McCray of Kissimmee, Florida; Cindy Marks (Dirk) of Valencia, California, and Sheri Reynolds (Mike) of Navasota, Texas; four grandchildren, Ginger McCray Lebrón (José), Bryce and Brynn Reynolds, and Michelle Marks; and a great-grandchild, Alexander Lebrón.
Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, at Hurst’s Fielder-Baker Funeral Home in Farmersville, Texas. Service will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 4, at the Blue Ridge Cemetery pavilion, officiated by the Rev. Dan Gurley. Memorial gifts are welcome to the Blue Ridge Cemetery Association, PO Box 122, Blue Ridge, Texas 75424.