Frances Kellnor Senevey

1939 - 2023

Frances Kellnor Senevey
November 7, 1939 - February 27, 2023
Fort Worth, Texas - Frances Jean Kellnor Senevey passed away Monday, February 27, 2023 from lung cancer. She was born in New York City in 1939, but she promptly moved to New Orleans when her father set up his medical practice there. Frances spent her entire childhood in her beloved N'awlins and graduated from Tulane (then Sophie Newcomb). After graduation Frances moved to Dallas where she met her future husband Steven Senevey. When Steven set up his medical practice in Fort Worth, they moved there and raised their two daughters, Leslie and Karen Senevey. They remained successful, cooperative co-parents for the rest of their lives after divorcing in the early 1980s.
Frances became an elementary school teacher, working mostly with disadvantaged children, until she retired. Her favorite role of all though, was being the adoring "Ami" to her grandkids Josie and Keaton Bullen. She never missed a school or dance performance and was always their biggest cheerleader.
Frances was the definition of a bleeding heart. She would cry at commercials and newspaper articles, she volunteered weekly at the Tarrant Area Food Bank, she befriended the homeless, and she sometimes (much to the dismay of her family) picked up strangers and gave them a ride if they were walking in the heat or rain. Frances was one of the "helpers". But nothing tugged at her heart like animals. In addition to taking care of her own pets, she also fed the neighborhood strays, raccoons, possums and birds. For a time, she even fed the local coyotes, rationalizing that it would keep them from eating neighborhood pets.
Even during the darkest times and challenges of her life, Frances never lost her playful sense of humor or her love of people. She'd casually strike up conversation with strangers everywhere she went - Walmart, the car wash, her favorite restaurant (Fortuna), the doctor's office, you name it. She loved Mardi Gras, chocolate, 7-11 sandwiches and the Dallas Cowboys. She had an uncanny ability to fall asleep to loud noise, once even drifting off in the front row of Stomp. She was a great cook, a wonderful friend and an excellent mother. Most of all, Frances knew how to love, and she lived her life doing it until her dying day.
Frances was preceded in death by her parents Arthur and Isabel Kellnor and her sister, Susan Gilbert. She will be forever missed by her daughters Leslie and Karen Senevey, Leslie's husband Chris Bullen, grandkids Josie and Keaton Bullen, niece and nephew Jill and Brian Gilbert, brother-in-law Harry Gilbert, and her four very spoiled cats Blackie, Petal, Toby and Ollie.
Frances never wanted to be the center of attention and stipulated in her will that she did not want a funeral service. If you'd like to honor her memory, please adopt a pet, volunteer at a shelter or donate to an animal charity.