Obituary of Frances Dawson

Frances Dawson, formerly of Connell, went to be with her Lord and Savior on June 10, 2011 after a brief, but very brave struggle with pancreatic cancer. After living in Connell for many years where she worked for Lamb-Weston as a field Supervisor, Fran moved to Othello, where she resided since 1996. Fran was born in Chicago, Illinois. She moved with her family to Vancouver, Washington and attended high school there, where she met and married her husband, Edward Dawson. They had three children and began farming in the Columbia Basin area in 1967. After the dissolution of her marriage to Edward, Fran continued to work in agriculture with Lamb-Weston, working her way up the ladder with the company. Fran began her employment on the "trim-line" in Quincy, working her way up to management positions at the Connell plant where she was promoted successively to the positions of Storage Supervisor, Fleet Supervisor, and Field Supervisor. It has been said that Fran was the first woman in the state of Washington, and the second woman in the entire United States, to advance into these positions of responsibility in the agricultural community. Fran loved having a career and was a very hard-working and loyal employee of Lamb-Weston for over 25 years. In addition to her career, Fran had a love of antiques, flower gardening, flower arranging, cooking, crafts, and travel. After her retirement, Fran spent her time decorating her dream home in Othello, and helping her neighbors. Her daughters, Cathy Dawson, Soap Lake; Carol Dawson, Moses Lake; Nancy Owens, Moses Lake; and her granddaughter, Rebecca Gawenit, Vancouver, WA, survive Fran. Fran was preceded in death by her parents, George and Geraldine Mohr, her sister, Marcia, and her dog of many years, Chloe, who passed away in the summer of 2010. Fran's family wishes to express heart-felt gratitude to all of the people who helped her in her last days including the ER staff at Othello Community Hospital, the ER staff, Oncology staff and Acute Care staff at Kadlec Medical Center in Richland, and the entire staff at Avalon Care Center in Othello. Your compassion will be remembered always. Additionally, the family would like to express gratitude to the Craig Cernick family of Othello, and the family of Ted Tschirky, Connell, for their thoughtfulness and helpfulness to Fran during her retirement years. A final viewing and visitation will be held Thursday, June 16, 2011 between 5:00p.m. and 7p.m. at Danekas Funeral Home, Othello. A memorial service will be at 11:00a.m.on Friday June 17, 2011 at the Gideon Lutheran Church, Connell, WA The family asked Danekas Funeral Home, Othello to care for the arrangements. Please visit and leave a condolence message at www.DanekasFuneralHome.org.