FRANCES M. CAVANAUGH left this life after a short illness, on August 30, 2023, just days before her 94th birthday. She was born in Louisiana, the daughter of Jacob Krummel and Mary Montalbano, and she was the first of their seven children. Before she was 10, Frances and her siblings were sent to separate facilities as 'half-orphans', a situation that was not uncommon during the Great Depression years. Their mother died at a young age, and their father suffered from tuberculosis, himself being hospitalized for most of his adult life. When she reached the age of 16, Frances began to collect her sisters and brothers from their various orphan institutions. One heartbreaking letter, found recently, described an appeal where she negotiated the terms that allowed her to bring one of her brothers home for a brief holiday visit. Frances and her sisters worked as store clerks, cleaning maids, and elevator operators. Their two brothers were taken in by a relative, and they had careers as tradesmen and auto mechanics.

After the marriage to her first husband ended, Frances was encouraged to return with her godfather to Santa Clara, California, and start a new life for herself. With all of her sisters, and her own two young sons in tow, she boarded the train and did exactly that. She bought a home in San Jose, and the sisters lived together until their majority. A few years later, Frances met a widower named Jack Cavanaugh, who had two young daughters. They became a blended family, and he became the love of her life. The Cavanaughs made Gilroy their home in 1969, and Jack and Frances were married for 37 years, until his passing in 1997.

Most who knew Frances probably didn't know much of her early story - likely because her focus was always on others, and not on herself. She raised 5 children, and a few grandchildren, before branching out into childcare (babysitting, as it was then called) for extended family and friends. Many of those children are now parents themselves, and she received annual Christmas cards and pictures from them. In her later years, Frances was still cooking, cleaning, and caretaking for her friends, neighbors, and community. She volunteered with St. Mary Church, the Senior Center, and Wheeler Manor, where she lived for the last 16 years.

Frances never learned to drive, but that didn't stop her! She loved all kinds of travel, making several air trips back to Louisiana and up to visit Colorado family, car rides across the United States, and ferries into Canada. She played on women's bowling leagues, and she couldn't miss her favorite Bingo nights around Gilroy and Morgan Hill. She took many senior bus trips to casinos, where the nickel slots were her favorites. She was known to have a phenomenal gift of luck, and along with that, a phenomenal desire to give away whatever she had to anyone who was in need. She was never happier than when she was doing for someone else, or, as she called it: "helping the old people."

She met all of her blessings and challenges in the same way: with love, faith, and courage. Her life was full, and she left a legacy of service to which we all could aspire. She was also fiercely independent, and in typical Frances fashion, she took care of her own final arrangements, well in advance, so that no one would need to worry. The family appreciates that any donations be made to the giver's favorite charity.

Frances was preceded in death by her parents, son Leonard, husband Jack, and all of her siblings. Celebrating her memory are her surviving children: Ted (Mary) Cavanaugh, Patricia Walters, Teresa Loa, and John (Laura) Cavanaugh; grandchildren: Ted, Jenna, Jason, Elisa, Tim, Shawn, Jennifer, Silvia, Neil, John, Ciera, and their spouses; 20 great-grandchildren; several (and many grand-) nieces and nephews; and very many friends, especially her neighbors: Pat, Linda, and Leona. No service is scheduled at this time, and private inurnment will take place on a later date at St. Benedict Columbarium in Hollister, where Jack has been patiently waiting these past 26 years.