Frances Wilson Dumbaugh

In the evening hours of August 20, 2025, Frances Wilson Dumbaugh brought her extraordinary life to a close in the home she and her husband, George, designed and built 52 years ago. Throughout her 85 years, she shaped the arc of many lives with her love for people near and far. Her insightful wisdom and keen ability to recognize the essence of a moment inspired many friends, family, and acquaintances to take the next step on their personal journeys and live their best lives. She was a particularly fierce advocate for women. She loved to travel with her family and friends, sew, read, cook, and, above all, share coffee and ideas at her kitchen table. Her beautiful cursive handwritten letters on fine stationary brought delight (and quelled homesickness) to those she loved.

She was cherished as wife, Mom, and "Ms. Fran." Fran was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1939, the oldest of the ten children of Edith Myatt and Edward Wilson. The family moved to Louisville when Fran was eight years old and she spent the rest of her life there. She often visited the Cabbage Patch Settlement House as a young girl to read books in the window. At Male High School, Joseph Klan encouraged her to play the violin, a generous act that built her confidence and fostered a love of music that would last throughout her lifetime. After graduating, she found work at the Bell Telephone Company where she thrived in the early 1960s.

Fran met George Dumbaugh when he came to repair her roommate's stereo. They married in January 1961 and welcomed four daughters over the next several years. Their 61-year partnership became a bedrock for those who knew them, anchoring and advancing many friends, family, and colleagues. Fran and George moved to the Highlands in 1963, and it was there that she made many lifelong friends, including Ann Archer, Barbara Riddick, and Priscilla Steedly.

Fran quickly became part of the neighborhood and worked to elect Gerta Bendl as one of only a few alderwomen in the city of Louisville and helped lobby for "The Dundee Question," an issue that helped local children attend their nearby school rather than one farther away. Fran invested her entire adult life in advocacy, whether on an individual basis or through more collective experiences. This could take the shape of her featuring Helen Reddy's "I am woman" on her new cassette player in the kitchen in the 1970s or displaying in the entryway her carefully cross stitched piece that declared "Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily this is not difficult."

In her eighties, she joined a group of community organizers on a Saturday morning to protest an increase in local

property taxes. Fran and Barbara also launched and sustained a successful sewing business that employed

women and created gorgeous, original draperies, bedspreads, and other finery for homes around Louisville and beyond. Later, Fran would join the Milestone Book Club and enjoy compelling titles she might not have read otherwise and fellowship with booklovers of all ages.

Her 2018 cancer diagnosis brought Dr. David Deuring into her circle of friends and, together, they battled for her life. She always held him dear in her heart, along with nurse Evelyn Beckman. Dr. Deuring's commitment to his patients highlights the powerful impact of professional work. He became a staple in Fran's life, encouraging her to try acupuncture in her early 80s to regain the sewing and writing strength in her fingers. She packed her sewing and stationary as she jetted to the Vatican, Rome, and Jamaica, taking in the Trevi Fountain on the arm of a handsome Italian man and the warm Caribbean waters shortly before she turned 85 years old. She took her last trip in June, 2025 to attend her grandson's wedding in Colorado.

In the end, Fran showed us how to live a full, rich life. Even with increasingly limited mobility, she remained a master at recognizing the importance of everyday life, insisting on going out daily, learning new ideas, and completing tasks on her "to do" lists written on tiny notepads or the backs of envelopes. She urged us forward with her encouragement to pursue the next possibility, focus on the future, and invest in young people. She loved to send a green check-mark emoji as a sign of affirmation and she reminded us of her mantra, "don't borrow trouble," as we considered a decision or contemplated the next step on our adventure. She believed in us all the days of her life. And we loved her dearly for it.

Fran was preceded in death by her husband, George. She is survived by her daughters, Laura Vannoy, Della Dumbaugh, Liz Martin, and Khaki Fox, two sons-in-law that were more like sons to her, Ken Vannoy and Richard Fox, nine grandchildren, Beau, Ash, Hannah, Colin, Casey, Aiden, Mayzie, Georgie and Judy, one great-grandchild, Agent, her sisters and brothers, and many treasured nieces, nephews, friends, and associates.

Visitation will be 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., Friday, September 5th, at Highlands Funeral Home and 1:00 p.m. Saturday, September 6th, at Bardstown Road Presbyterian Church, 1722 Bardstown Road, with a celebration of life to follow at 2:00 p.m.

As Fran encouraged us: Look around. Enjoy those with you. Savor the minutes you have with the people you love.