Frances E. Bryant

Frances Elaine Olivier Jackson Bryant was born June 20, 1938, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. God sent an angel to wake her gently on the morning of May 27, 2024, to tell her it was time to come home. Frances was the daughter of Wallace Olivier and Marie Wilson. Of the eight children they had, Frances was the 2nd youngest and the last surviving sibling.
Frances was a top honors graduate of St. Benedict High School in the Bronzeville historical area in Milwaukee and received a four-year scholarship. Instead of taking the scholarship, she decided to marry the first love of her life, Jerome O. Jackson, whom she met when she was just 12 years old.
Frances and Jerome went on to have six children, Sonia Jackson, Terri (Eugene) Towery, Monica Brown, Jerome (Susan) Jackson Jr., Carla (Jetta Pyatt) Jackson, Tamara (Paul) Gayle. She was divorced from Jerome in April 1968. During the summer of 1975, Frances met and married the second love of her life, Thomas L. Bryant. Thomas had a daughter, Brenda Bryant, who she embraced as a bonus daughter. They went on to have a daughter, Jennifer Bryant.
After the divorce from Jerome in 1968, Frances was left to support her six children on her own, so she worked at J.C. Penney as an employment specialist, hiring people for their warehouses. She also sold encyclopedias door to door to supplement her income. When she met and married Thomas, he retired her. Later in life, Frances took up selling Mary Kay as a side hobby and she lit up the board with sales awards, thriving to win that Pink Cadillac!
Frances was an active member of Cross Lutheran Church and served as Angel Choir Director for many years. Because of her looks, Pastor Joe referred to her as the Liz Taylor of Cross.
Frances and Thomas loved Bingo and they spent many days at Potawatomi Casino. They were lucky enough to win the Wisconsin Lottery in the 80s which was 6 million but unfortunately, 20 other people won.
Growing up, all of her children remember the unconditional love she showed us. She was the World's Greatest Mom! But mom didn't play when it came to taking care of business at school. She also made other kids in our poor neighborhood feel like they were hers. She broke up fights and brought kids into our house to talk it out and shake hands. She was respected even by the toughest kids in our neighborhood.
Frances was a social butterfly and she made everyone feel special when they came to visit her. Many knew they were always welcome at Frances' house. Holidays at home or at picnics were huge. She would cook big meals for everyone and often so many friends and relatives would come that all the food was gone by the end of the night. Frances was quite a lady, and she will be dearly missed.
Frances was preceded in death by her mother – Marie, her father – Wallace; her husbands – Jerome & Thomas; her brothers – Andrew, Bernard, Wallace, and Stanley; her sisters Marie, Pauline, Patricia, Joyce, Yvonne, and Jeanine; and her daughter Terri.
Frances leaves to cherish her memory now and forever to her six surviving children and a host of grandchildren and great grandchildren whom she loved and cared for.
A Visitation will be held from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Friday, June 7, 2024, at Krause Funeral Home, 9000 W. Capitol Drive in Milwaukee. A Funeral Service will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at Cross Lutheran Church, 1821 North 16th Street in Milwaukee. Burial will be held at Graceland Cemetery.
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