Frances Mae Nassif

The Des Moines area will be a little less Iowa-Nice since Frances M. Nassif (nee Thiessen) passed away at age 92 on January 13, 2017. She had a smile for everyone and - save for a few truly deserving souls - rarely an unkind word. An Iowa farm girl, Fran grew up with four younger sisters and a brother in Everly, Iowa. She was valedictorian of her 1942 Everly High School class and then attended Buena Vista College in Storm Lake for a year. She then moved to Des Moines where she worked in the war effort at a munitions factory in Ankeny while waiting to pursue a nursing career. The following fall, she entered nurses training and went on to graduate as a Registered Nurse in the Iowa Lutheran Hospital Class of 1947.

Later that year, she met and married Berney Nassif and worked at Lutheran until they began their family. Once their six children, including two sets of twins, had all reached school age, she returned to nursing at Lutheran providing compassionate care in the surgery and recovery units. Fran regularly brought home moving stories, both heart-warming and heart-rending, that revealed her kind and caring nature.

Fran was a curious life-long learner. She read voraciously and enjoyed adult education classes. She loved to play bridge and was good at it. She loved to play golf and was not good at it.

Fran also loved to travel, which she did whenever she could. When Berney wasn't interested in a particular destination, she'd get her sisters or friends to join her.

Fran was a member of Visitation Catholic Church and its Altar and Rosary Society, Ding Darlings, American Legion Auxiliary, Iowa Lutheran Hospital Retirees and several bridge clubs. She also gave generously to many charities.

Fran was much loved and we will miss her.

Fran is survived by her sons, Michael, Des Moines, IA, Patrick (Mary), Issaquah, WA, William (Joan), Des Moines, IA, David, her "darling" favorite, (Monica), Minneapolis, MN and Daniel (Bridget), Minneapolis, MN; daughter, Denise McClure, Boise, ID; her sister, Mary Cosimo, Des Moines, IA; her sister-in-law, Audrey Thiessen, Spencer, IA; 16 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, cousins and other extended family.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Bernard; parents, Albert and Clara Thiessen; sisters, Clarice Elbert, Rhoda Kaiser, and Sarah Goddard; brother, Richard Thiessen; and great-granddaughter, Hanna Rose Andio.

A visitation and celebration of her life will be held on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Hamiltons Funeral Home, 605 Lyon St., Des Moines, IA. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, January 19, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. at Our Lady of the Americas Catholic Church, 1271 E. 9th St., Des Moines, IA.

Memorials may be made to the Iowa chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, Our Lady of the Americas Catholic Church, or the Glen Oaks Memory Care Center where she received especially kind, thoughtful and loving care during her last months.