Frances Hern

1951.05.08/2015.09.04  Age 64

Frances lived a full and active life. She was warm and gentle with a quiet nature who touched many lives and who cherished deep and long-lasting friendships. She was a selfless and dedicated mother, always putting the needs of others before her own. Frances exhibited quiet confidence and had great inner strength and courage. She had a great sense of humour (she was always quick to laugh), loved the outdoors, and had an admirable level of fitness. 

Born in Birmingham England, the youngest child of Ronald and Win Moffatt, she is survived by her mother Win and her elder sister Patricia. 

Frances met Keith, her husband and best friend for over 43 years, at Great Barr Comprehensive School and they became childhood sweethearts. They married in 1972. After a short honeymoon in the Lake District, they started married life in London where Frances worked as a laboratory technician at Imperial College London. 

They moved to Canada in 1973 and, unable to find work as a lab tech, she took courses in typing and shorthand and became an executive secretary. They only intended to spend a year in Canada before moving on to see the world, however they both fell in love with Canada and decided to stay.

When Frances started her family, she chose to stay at home and invest her time raising her children. She is survived by three children, Claire Frances (33), Adrienne Elaine (31) and Ian William (29). Adrienne married Craig Madill in 2011 and presented Frances with her first grandson, Charlie Woodrow Madill (13 months). Ian married Sarah Woolgar in 2013.

When the children started school, Frances filled her free time writing and composing poetry; both passions of hers. Over the years Frances received much recognition for her writing, including the Marg Gilkes Award in 1995 by the Calgary Writers Association. 

In part because she was not keen on history at school, she felt there was a need to present history in an easy-to-read format written for young adults. She wrote and had published three books in this genre; 

Frances, Hern. Norman Bethune:  The Incredible Life and Tragic Death of a Revered Canadian Doctor. Canmore: Altitude Publishing, 2004.

Frances, Hern. Arctic Explorers: In Search of the Northwest Passage. Surrey: Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd., 2010.

Frances, Hern. Yip Sang and the First Chinese Canadians. Surrey: Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd., 2011.  

She had two essays published in Engraved, an anthology of Canadian Stories of World War One (2014). Throughout the years numerous poems of Frances' have been published in various works. She also has a young adult book awaiting publication.

Frances was keen on sport, playing field hockey, basketball, tennis, squash and badminton. She seized any opportunity to feel the warmth of the sun on her face. Summer weekends would find her hiking in Banff, Jasper, and Yoho national parks or canoeing the rivers of Alberta and British Columbia. Frances had a love for gardening, reflecting her desire to nurture. 

Before kids she took several trips to many European ski resorts. When the children were young Jackson Hole was the ski resort of choice, where she was the first female to be awarded the Million Vertical Feet belt buckle. As the children grew she became an active parent volunteer in the Lake Louise Ski Club.

In the last 10 years of her life Frances called Golden home and enjoyed skiing at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing on Dawn Mountain. 

Frances enjoyed many family sailing holidays. She sailed extensively on the west coast of Canada with longer trips to the Caribbean islands, along the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, in Turkey, and in the Greek Islands.

Frances visited many places including Egypt, Ecuador, the Galapagos, Machu Picchu, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and in 2014 she traveled through Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe on Safari. Frances and Keith shared a thirst for adventure and love of cultures, people, and the history behind them. On her travels Frances sought out local museums, art galleries, historical sites, and a good cup of tea. She was always ready with a pad and pen, taking notes, names and dates, perhaps seeking inspiration for her next story. 

Frances was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and was required to undergo a mastectomy. Breast cancer returned with a vengeance in 2012 necessitating a second mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments. Devastatingly, despite treatment the cancer metastasized to her lungs, liver, and bones.

Her cheerful and positive attitude belied her condition. In January, Frances skied on sunny days just one or two runs before returning home for her après-ski bath and ritual cup of tea. At the end of the ski season, she went on a tour of China and Southeast Asia, her last trip. 

Wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, poet, and author, Frances will be sorely missed by many. In living memory of Frances Hern, a tree will be planted at Fish Creek Provincial Park in September 2016.

Thoughts on Luck

Frances Hern – December 19,2013

Perhaps it's portioned out at birth,

this much for you, less for you.

Perhaps I've squandered my share

on small things,

a glutton for serendipity,

rather than hoarding it for when

I really need it. But then

if I had hoarded,

denying small pleasures, successes,

so I could use it when all the odds

are playing against me,

I might not care so much about

what is happening now.

Celebration of Life

The family would like to invite her friends to a celebration of Frances’ life on Saturday, October 10^th 2015 between 2 and 6 pm at The Island Restaurant, Golden, British Columbia.