Frances Perkins

Frances Muriel Perkins

March 13, 1920 - October 30, 2014

Frances Muriel Perkins (nee Snyder) passed away on October 30th, at the age of 94, surrounded by her family.

She has gone to join her husband, Herb, which is fitting as they didn't like to be apart for too long. Fran-and-Herb were married, joyfully for 72 years. She is survived by five daughters, six grandchildren, and a great-grand son, whom she recently met.

Frannie was born in 1920, in a small town near Moosehead Lake, Maine.
The oldest of six children, she moved to Winchester, Massachusetts as a young teenager. She received her college degree at Simmons College (despite her father's belief that girls didn't really need watches or college educations).

Our Ma was a pioneer, in her own way. She worked as a chemist, long enough to put her husband through medical school. With her first daughter in tow, she traveled to Japan to join Herb during the Occupation.
Frannherb eventually moved to California to raise their daughters. Family nights were spent singing by the piano, sewing doll clothes, or baking cookies. Fran was actively involved as a parent, science teacher, and school board member at Peninsula school, to allow her children opportunities to bloom. Summer vacations were spent at Camp Trinity, again, providing rich opportunities for her children. Great family memories were made during road trips across country to visit the relatives.

Throughout their marriage Fran was a pillar of strength to Herb. During his career at Irwin Memorial Blood Bank (later to be called Blood Centers of the Pacific), she served as his personal adviser on many policy and personnel issues.

She discovered The Sea Ranch at its inception, spending long weekends, walking the windy bluffs. In 1962 Fran and Herb purchased a lot in the hills overlooking, what is now The Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In her mid to late eighties she worked to achieve the dream that they had held since the early 1960's, shepherding the building of their dream home. Her last years were spent viewing the city that she loved, the California foothills, and the Pacific Ocean; in a prime position to greet the fog as it poured through the Golden Gate Bridge.

A small, private ceremony was held by the family, with (an element she would have loved) the assistance of a female Rabbi.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Peninsula School (520 Peninsula Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025), or to Herbert Perkins Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Fund. Blood Centers of the Pacific-Irwin Center (attn Nora Hirschler MD 270 Masonic Ave. San Francisco, CA 94118)