Frances Ann Thomsen

 

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  She went on to write many country and western songs (unpublished, for her own enjoyment), and served as church pianist in a number of churches over 75 years.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.