Frances Edgar Obituary

Frances Harrison Edgar

9/3/1925 - 5/28/2017

Our precious Frances died peacefully of natural causes on Sunday, May 28th, 2017 in the Intensive Care Unit of Overlake Hospital. Despite the valiant efforts of their excellent Intensive Care Team, in the end they were unable to abate the loss of lung function, or effect a recovery. With her at her passing were her beloved husband for 62 years, Richard B. Edgar, her loving son Rick Edgar and his caring wife Terri Edgar. Frances lived a long life of 91 years and 8 months bringing joy and happiness to all she touched with her radiant personality, wisdom, caring spirit and generosity. We miss her desperately.

Frances was born Sept 3, 1925 in Minneapolis, MN, first daughter of Margaret Muriel Dady Harrison and Leigh Cooke Harrison. His Scotch-English ancestors immigrated to the Minnesota River valley in the 1850s. Her ancestors immigrated from Ireland to Wabasha, MN during the potato famine of the 1840s. Their second daughter, Margaret, born only 16 months after Frances, was her dearest friend and deeply mourned at her death in 1999 and ever since.

Frances made many lifelong friends at Central High in Minneapolis, graduating in 1943. We treasure her graduation picture at 18. She could have been a movie star with those good looks! She then attended the University of MN, graduating in 1947 with a BA degree in psychology. In two more years she earned a Master of Social Work degree, and embarked on a career in social work, moving first to Portland, OR to work in the school system, later to Seattle to work at the Seattle Family Society and to be with her sister Margaret.

She loved to travel and during her summer breaks in Portland traveled to Mexico, ending up in Acapulco where the charming photo at the head of this column shows her enjoying herself at the famous beach, attracting fans and getting far too much sun for her fair skin. Back in Seattle she enjoyed being wined and dined at country clubs and at the log boom at SeaFair races. Frances and Richard met at the Seattle Town and Country Club in June 1954. Richard was bewitched by her charm, sophistication and good looks. They became engaged in December 1954 before Richard was recalled to active duty in the Navy. They married in Seattle May 20,1955 and drove 3500 miles to Norfolk, VA in 7 days during their honeymoon. A highlight of the Navy days was a 5-month tour of the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Istanbul. On return Frances became a supervisor of social work for the city of Norfolk. Following a two year stint in West Virginia where Rick was born, she returned to Seattle to resume her social work career in 1959, first with the school system and later in private practice. Tom was born in 1965. Frances always loved flowers and plants. She became a Master Gardener in 1976 and spent many hours as a volunteer. In her professional life Frances focused on helping clients through counseling guided by principles and insights of psychoanalysis. To prepare for this she under went psychoanalysis and studied for 3 years with the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society. Her psychoanalytic library grew to over hundred books which she donated to the UW School of Social Work. Dr Edith Buxbaum was her favorite mentor in Seattle.

Frances is survived by her husband, sons Richard and Thomas, grandson Matthew, nephews Bruce and Peter White. A memorial service will be held 6/17/17 at 1:00pm at Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church in Kirkland. Memorial gifts may be made to Overlake Medical Center Foundation to assist in their community outreach.