FRANCES MARIE (CALLAHAN) SINCLAIR

At home with family by her side, Fran passed away Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006 at the age of 66.
Fran was born April 13, 1940 in Toronto, Ont. At an early age, she moved to Fort Frances, Ont. with her parents. She attended St. Mary’s grade school, then went on to St. Joseph’s private school in Toronto.
She returned to Fort Frances to complete her high school education, graduating from Fort Frances High School.
After Fran attended teacher’s college in Thunder Bay, she taught in Fort Frances at St. Mary’s, St. Francis, and Alberton.
In 1961, she married her love and best friend, Rob. A few years later, they moved to Thunder Bay, Ont., where Fran did supply teaching in various schools.
She was very active in the sport of curling. She was a past-president of the Lakehead Ladies Curling Club, and past-president and long-time member of N.W.O.L.C.A. Fran also was the Ontario delegate to the Scott Tournament of Hearts, as well as being an accomplished curler herself.
She was a volunteer with the Red Cross blood donor clinics, and on the auxiliary for Westfort T-ball. She curled in many Fort Frances ladies’ bonspiels and was an extremely dedicated fan of her children’s curling careers.
In 1990, Fran and Rob returned home to Fort Frances, where they spent the rest of their life together. Some of her favourite memories were made at their cabin on Rainy Lake at Sieg’s Point, where their door was always open to their many special family and friends.
When her two granddaughters, Dani and Sara, came into her life, she was overjoyed and became their “Nana Bear.” Some of her most cherished times were spent with the girls.
Fran had a great passion for animals and a terrific sense of humour. She also was a great cook and had a very unique spirit that attracted so many.
Fran struggled with illness the last 26 years of her life, having a bone marrow transplant in 1991 and an incidence of cancer in 2006 until God relieved her of her sufferings and took her home.
She is survived by her husband, Rob of Fort Frances, Ont.; son, Robbie (Shelly) and their first-born baby to arrive in April, 2007 of Thunder Bay, Ont.; daughter, Kathie (Lorne) Jackson and their their daughters, Danielle and Sara of Fort Frances, Ont.; and two sisters, Kathie (Mike) Sawada of Niagara Falls, Ont., and their children, Michael and Raija (Mike) Sawada of Ottawa, Ont., and Mitzi (Larry) Armstrong and their children, Nikki (who is Fran’s God-daughter) (Chris) Wiedenhoeft and Shane (Bobbi) Armstrong, both of Fort Frances, Ont.
Also surviving are her Aunt Shirley Pelkey of Fort Frances, Ont.; brother-in-law, Dave (Ivy) Sinclair of Cherry Valley, Ont.; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Fran was pre-deceased by her parents, Thomas and Kathleen Callahan; brothers, Tommy and Sean; nieces, Allison Armstrong and Heather Sawada; Aunt Alice Widurski; and numerous other relatives.
Cremation will take place.
Visitation will be held Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006 from 7-9 p.m. at Green’s Funeral Home in Fort Frances.
Funeral services will be held Friday, Dec. 1, 2006 at 3 p.m. at Green’s Funeral Home in Fort Frances, with Fr. Francis Pudicherry officiating.
The honourary pallbearers are Dave Sinclair, Lorne Jackson, Larry Armstrong, Shane Armstrong, Mike Sawada, Michael Sawada, Chris Wiedenhoeft, Mary Kay Skinner, and Dot McRae.
Friends may direct in memoriam donations to the “Just Imagine” campaign for a C.T. scanner at La Verendrye Hospital in Fort Frances c/o Green’s Funeral Home, P.O. Box 427, Fort Frances, Ont., P9A-3M8 or to the Fort Frances Curling Club, attention: Junior Curling, 300 Eighth St. East, Fort Frances, Ont., P9A-3W4.