Frances Ann Thomsen, 87, passed away in Lawton, Oklahoma, on
November 26, 2021. Fran was born on April
24, 1934, in Poteau, Oklahoma. Fran was
the daughter of Jack and Alma Wise Richmond.
Fran, or “Frances Ann” as many knew her growing up, lived near Monroe
for her early years. She attended high
schools in Howe and Monroe, and graduated from Wister High School in 1950 at
the age of 16. She went on to attend
Carl Albert Junior College, and later, Arizona State University. While still in her teens, she worked for the
Poteau Motor Company.
From an early age, Fran was passionate about music, both piano
and singing, and was an accomplished musician.
She started piano lessons at age 12, and three months later was playing
the piano for her church. By age 15, she
was teaching both piano and singing in LeFlore County, became an accompanist
for the Men’s Gospel Quarter in Heavener the same year, and played the piano at
revivals for many different religions.
One of her favorite stories involved her musical ambitions. When she was 15, she composed an
extraordinary jazz piece for piano, and entered a radio talent program in
Muskogee, Oklahoma. Winners were determined by an audience
applause meter. The audience was very
enthusiastic about her composition, particularly at such a young age – but she
lost to a chihuahua who howled to a recorded piece called “Doggie Concerto”,
because the dog’s owner had stacked the audience with his friends! She went on to write many country and western
songs (unpublished, for her own enjoyment), and served as church pianist in a
number of churches over 75 years. She
sang in choirs, accompanied them on piano, and directed choirs in Tucson,
Arizona. She went on to play for the
chapel services at Villa Maria Nursing Home, and at The Forum Assisted Living
Center, in Tucson.
In 1951, Fran married M.L. Courington, Jr., with whom she had
two children, Lea Frances and John Mark, and she was fiercely proud of the many
accomplishments of both. In 1965, she
married William Thomsen (deceased 2007), and lived in Willcox, Arizona. She was a service representative for Mountain
Bell Telephone. She then became interested in politics, and
served on the Willcox City Council. She
was elected Vice Mayor in 1978, and then was elected the first female mayor of
Willcox in 1980. She also served as Vice
President for the Southeast Arizona Government Organization, as a board member
of the Southeast Arizona Health System Agency, and on the Arizona Board League
of Cities and Towns. She moved to Tucson
in 1981, and, in addition to continuing to work for Mountain Bell, she obtained
her real estate license and became a very successful realtor. One of her favorite stories about her time at
Mountain Bell was that she met (on the phone) the great actor John Wayne, when
he called to have a phone system set up while he was filming McClintock.
Fran was also passionate about gardening. After moving to Lawton, Oklahoma, in 2013 to
be closer to her children, she developed lavish gardens in her front and back
yards, full of hundreds of roses and exotic flowers. She spent four hours a day in her gardens,
tending and nurturing them, up until the week before she left to sing in the
Heavenly choir, and tend the gardens in Heaven.
She loved to travel, and play golf, went on many cruises, and spent as
much time as she could in her beloved England (she was a true
“Anglophile”). One of her favorite
activities in recent years has been traveling with her son-in-law and dear
friend, Chris Harvey, with whom she took many road trips discovering unique
areas of Oklahoma and Arkansas. She
loved cats. She was always the
neighborhood cat mom, working hard to feed and find homes for stray cats.
Fran left happiness and smiles in her wake. She became “Gigi” to
her grandchildren and would-be faux kids and grandkids. She had a fantastic sense of humor, and regaled
those she loved with wonderful stories of her adventures across the world. Fran was fiercely independent and a strong
proponent of women’s equality.
Fran was preceded in death by her father, Jack Richmond, her
mother, Alma Wise Richmond, her brother, Buell Richmond, her husband, William
H. Thomsen, a stepson, William H. Thomsen II; a stepdaughter, Susan Thomsen,
and by her daughter, Lea Courington. She
is survived by her son, John Courington, and his wife Sylvia Burgess of Lawton,
Oklahoma; son-in-law, Chris Harvey of Dallas, Texas; grandchildren Kelly
DeBerry, and her husband Richard of Fort Worth; John Harvey, of Dallas, Texas;
Brad Burgess and Beverly Burgess of Lawton, Oklahoma, great-grandchildren Will DeBerry
of Honolulu, Hawaii, Katherine DeBerry of Fort Worth, Blake Burgess and Foster Burgess
of Lawton, Oklahoma; a nephew, Buell Dean Richmond, III, and his wife Cindy, of
Howe, Oklahoma; several cousins and “almost-sisters”, and many, many friends,
all of whom she dearly loved and cherished.
Fran was genuinely interested in people and their lives and
never missed a chance to support and encourage others. We all loved her deeply
and she will be greatly missed, but we will celebrate her life often and she
would want all of you to know how incredibly blessed and grateful she is to
have shared in your life in some way.
There will not be a memorial service (her insistence), but a
graveside service at Monroe Cemetery Pavilion, Monroe, Oklahoma, on Wednesday,
December 1, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. In lieu
of flowers, the family has requested donations may be made to Lawton Heights
United Methodist Church, 1514 NW Andrews, Lawton, Oklahoma 73507.
