Frances nicholson
1929-2015
Frances Sydney Gilmore Nicholson passed away on October 17, 2015. Fran was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1929 to Willard and Walter Gilmore. She grew up in Tyler, Texas and graduated from Tyler High School in 1946. She moved to Houston in 1952 and married William “Bill” Nicholson, Jr in 1958. Fran was well known by neighbors the many years she lived in Quail Valley in Missouri City, Texas and in Country Place in Pearland, Texas.
Fran was known for Fran’s Fine Jewelry including her signature gold bracelets and the pearls she strung for Nazar’s Jewelry in Houston. Fran, known by many as Flo, was equally well known for her tennis game, the ducks she overfed, her homemade cookies from scratch, her open arms, and her infectious laugh. Fran is survived by her daughter Dayna Steele Justiz, Dayna’s husband Charles and their three sons - Cristopher, Charles, and Nicholson; son Scooter Nicholson, his daughter Madison, and his daughter Lorelle, and her son Tucker; her brother Jim Gilmore and his wife Mary; and, her brother Dick Gilmore and his wife Karon.
Although Fran passed peacefully in her sleep, she suffered greatly the last few years in the final stages of Alzheimer’s - a destructive, progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions for which there is no cure and whose cause remains unknown. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Fran’s name to Hilarity for Charity at www. hilarityforcharity.com. This organization, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, raises money for research and awareness as well as providing grants to caregivers for the unbelievably high cost of care.
The family also requests you contact your Congressional representative and request more resources be allocated for Alzheimer’s research to help develop a cure and for this devastating disease.
There will be a celebration of Fran’s life held on December 6, 2015. Please contact the family for details. Fran’s story, Surviving Alzheimer’s: With Friends, Facebook, and a Really Big Glass of Wine (A caregiver’s guide to love, humor, patience, confusion, anger, and wine) will be published later this year.