Frances Ruth Smith

FRANCES RUTH (FORBES) (HARRISON) SMITH

AUGUST 31, 1937 – FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Frances R. Smith, of Marshalltown, passed away on Monday, February 19, 2024 at The Willows of Marshalltown, with family at her bedside. She was 86.

Frances was born on August 31, 1937 to Maurice and Pearl (Roskamp) Forbes. She was a 1955 graduate of Albion High School and married Willis D (Bill) Harrison on February 25, 1956. They were married for 45 years until his passing on July 19, 2001. On January 28, 2006, Fran married Kenneth F Smith and they just celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary last month. Fran and Bill had four children: Robin Harrison of Lilydale, MN; Greg Harrison of Marshalltown, IA, Tony (Kelley) Harrison of Marshfield, MO and Jason (Jeanne) Harrison of Grafton, WI. Fran gained bonus children when she married Ken: Nancy (Jay) Tappe of Colo, IA; Cindy Jennings of Nevada, IA and Roger (Teddi) Smith of Cedar Rapids, IA.

Fran has lived, worked and played in the Marshalltown area her entire life, except for two years when Bill was stationed in the Army in Hawaii and they lived on Oahu. She had many bookkeeping jobs in her work life including in HI and then in Marshalltown at Kiowa, Mueller Construction, Times-Republican and Marshalltown Company. Since Bill and Fran met in the mid-fifties, they had a special group of “Card Party” friends who met for monthly games of 500 and who got all the families together for skiing trips to Little Wall Lake in the summer and Afton Alps in the winter. Fran was always responsible for the cookies! Ken joined the group and the remaining members still meet monthly, for dinner and catching-up. Fran was very active in the Marshalltown Women’s Bowling Association and is a member of the MWBA Hall of Fame. She attended 50 Women’s National Bowling Tournaments in a row, the last in 2019 - three years after having a stroke. She has been a member of the First Presbyterian Church for 75 years. She was active as a Girl Scout leader and like many Moms, ran a shuttle service to multiple types of ball games and other kid’s activities. She took up square dancing with Bill later in life and continued dancing with Ken. She and Ken took on various leadership roles both in their Local Club and the State Association which resulted in them travelling and camping all across the country at various conventions. She also joined the neighborhood SCI Club when she moved to the farm with Ken. Fran was always making crafts and many were given as gifts. She continued making crafts, even after moving to The Willows of Marshalltown memory care unit in March of 2022.

Fran has six Grandchildren (Jay, Michael, Jon, Luke, Joe and Jacqueline) and eight Great-Grandchildren. She also has seven bonus Grandchildren (Craig, Phillip, Stuart, Katie, Luke, Levi and Galina) and two bonus Great-Grandchildren. Also surviving are her Sister Marilyn and Brother-in-Law Mike Sanderson of Albion. Preceding Frances in death her parents, her first husband, her brother Paul & sister-in-law Bev Forbes and her Grandson Robert Joel Harrison.

Services for Fran will take place on Saturday, February 24 at 1:30 P.M. at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home. She will be laid to rest at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens. Friends and family are also invited to attend a visitation on Friday, February 23 from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. at Mitchell Family Funeral Home. Memorials may be directed to the family for later designation. For questions or condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com or call 641-844-1234.

- Lovingly written by the family