Frances grew up in Laredo and Edinburg, Texas. On April 16, 1945 she married Hansford Lee Niles, a Border Patrol agent, who was stationed in the Rio Grande Valley. Frances was working for the U. S. Department of Agriculture and they met when she offered to tutor him in Spanish to help him with his work. She always called him Niles. They married in Falfurrias, Texas.

During Niles’ career they lived in McAllen, Langtry, Eagle Pass, Bracketville, Brownsville, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Several of these locations were considered hardship stations. In Langtry the family lived in government barracks that had been housing for Japanese, Italian, and German families that were relocated to Texas during WWII. Langtry had no electricity, so families relied on generators being fired up in order to do laundry and other chores. By then, Frances and Niles had two young daughters. She sewed them beautiful dresses and play clothes on a Singer treadle sewing machine. Occasionally a Texas Ranger would pass by on his horse to visit with the family and share a cup of coffee.

Education was very important to Frances. Her mother Lillian had been a teacher in Laredo until she resigned when she married. Frances started her college days in Edinburg at Pan American College which later became a part of the University of Texas—Rio Grande Valley. After marriage, she continued her studies at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville. In 1964 she completed her Bachelor of Science at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces and obtained a teaching certificate. She was the second of 4 generations of Texas teachers.

Everywhere they lived, Frances and Niles loved to fish, water ski, and camp. Favorite locations were on the Pecos River, the mouth of the Rio Grande where it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, Caballo Lake in New Mexico and Lake Buchanan. When Niles retired, they moved to Lake Granite Shoals, which later became Lake LBJ, in the Hill Country. Later they moved to Lake Buchanan because the fishing was better. Frances and Niles were married for 61 years.

Besides being a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Frances believed in service to others, having a generous and caring spirit. She was a Girl Scout leader and often the room mother in her daughters’ classes. She taught 4th Grade at Llano Elementary School for 22 years and she also taught elementary art classes in the summer, volunteered countless hours at the Llano Fine Art Guild and Gallery and worked fundraisers for the Lake Buchanan VFD. Frances also volunteered for many years at Lakeshore Library at Lake Buchanan. For over 80 years she was a faithful member of the Methodist Church or community churches wherever she lived. She and Niles loved to camp, fish, garden, and go for daily walks in their neighborhood on Lake Buchanan where they lived for over 40 years. She took art classes and painted in oils and watercolor. One of her works was named “Best In Show” in the Llano Fine Art exhibit.

After moving to Kerrville, Frances remained active, enjoyed her family, and was involved with the Monday artists at the Dietert Center, the Guadalupe Watercolor Group, and the Kerrville Art Club. She was thankful to the volunteers who

gave her rides through Kerr Konnect for several years, after she gave up driving at age 98.

She treasured the many friendships and memories she made over the years through her volunteer activities.

Frances was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and her siblings Virginia Lee Jones, Kathleen Finger, Robert Blassingame Johnson, Alma Burnett, Richard Johnson, and Clarence Johnson.

She is survived by her daughters Lynn Niles (Jim Lynch) of Kerrville, Janice (Doug) Parker of Kerrville, grandson Matthew (Melissa) Parker of Sonoma, CA, granddaughter Jennifer (Phillip Knudsen) Parker of Austin, TX, and great-grandchildren Eliza, Max, Rhett, and Scarlet. Her family meant the world to her and she meant the world to them.

The family would like to thank family and friends who spent time with her in her final days, the kind staff at Hilltop Nursing Home, and especially her two Peterson Hospice nurses Julie and Rebecca who gave her outstanding care, and Dr. Young, with Peterson Hospice, all of Kerrville.

If you would like, a donation in Frances’ memory can be made to the Lakeshore Library at 7346 Ranch Road 261, Buchanan Dam, TX 78609 or the Llano Fine Art Guild and Gallery at 503 Bessemer Ave., Llano, TX 78643.