FRANCES ROENSCH GILLIS
1924-2020
Frances Roensch Gillis died on Wednesday, the 16th of September 2020, at her home in Houston. She was 95 years of age.
She was born in Bellville, Texas, on the 5th of November 1924, to Herbert Edward Roensch, M.D. and Inez Bradley Roensch. She graduated from Bellville High School and The University of Texas where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. “Frankie,” as her friends knew her, then went to Florida where she helped found the Alpha Delta Pi chapter of The University of Miami. Frankie met the love of her life, Tom S. Gillis, Jr. shortly after World War II, who proposed to her on horseback in her hometown of Bellville. She and Tom were married for 62 years until his death in 2010. They had three children: Susan, Amy and Stratton.
Frankie was a beautiful woman who would greet everyone with an unforgettable smile. She was an avid tennis player who continued playing until she was 87, often refusing to tell her opponents her true age. She and Tom traveled extensively with their family. Later in life when Tom was a professor of entrepreneurship, they lived in Vienna, Austria; Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; Istanbul, Turkey and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She followed her passion for hosting friends and family as an interior decorator and a wine merchant.
“Miere,” as she was called by her grandchildren, was a devoted daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother; actively reminding all of the importance of love, laughter, and adventure.
Her sister, Patty Lou Roensch; her daughter, Susan Inez Gillis; and her husband, Tom, predeceased Frances. She is survived by her son, Stratton Gillis and his wife Jayne; her daughter, Amy Gillis Schwartz and her husband Marcus F. Schwartz, Sr.; her grandchildren, Marcus F. Schwartz, Jr., Gillis G. Schwartz, M.D. and Adelaide G. Schwartz; and her great-grandchildren, Reedy Elizabeth Schwartz, Marcus F. Schwartz, III, and Anna Frances Schwartz.
The family would like to thank Ann Braggs, Eric Morgan, Lola Omatola, Carmen Gage, Sharon Dyer, and Tolu Omatola for their loving care and help.
The family will have a private family burial service. Due to current attendance restrictions arrangements for a memorial service and celebration of Frankie’s life are pending and will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions be directed to the charity of one’s choice.
Please visit Mrs. Gillis’ online memorial tribute at GeoHLewis.com where words of comfort and condolence may be shared electronically with her family.