JANET FRAME

1932-2022

Frances Janet Soules Frame, beloved wife and mother, entered into rest on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 in Mansfield, TX. She was 89. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 17, at Hillier Funeral Home in Bryan, TX. Services will be at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 18, at Central Church of Christ, also in Bryan. Bob Wolfert will officiate.

Janet was born in Goldthwaite, TX on July 4, 1932, the sixth child and only daughter of Luther Hugh Soules and Blanche Harper Soules. She was a direct descendant of George Soule and John Alden, both signers of the Mayflower Compact in 1620, and a Daughter of the American Revolution.

While growing up in Mills County, Janet performed piano recitals and served as a soloist in her home congregation at First Baptist Church. She graduated with honors from Goldthwaite High School in 1949. She enrolled at Baylor University and later the University of Texas, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Home Economics in 1953.

After finishing college, Janet moved to Houston and began her career as a middle school science teacher.

Over the next ten years, she taught at Deady, Johnston, and Pershing Junior High Schools. In 1958-59 she returned to the University of Texas to study on a National Science Foundation scholarship. It was during this time that she met her future husband, Bill Gus Frame. After a brief courtship, they married in March 1959 at Central Church of Christ in Houston. In 1962 they moved to the West University neighborhood of Houston, where they lived for the next 28 years and raised their daughter Frances and son Will. During this time, Janet resumed teaching part time at Marian Christian School and Second Baptist School. In 1990 she and Bill moved to the Bellaire neighborhood of Houston, where they lived until 2004 when they relocated to College Station. After Bill’s passing in 2010, Janet remained in College Station until 2018, when she moved to Mansfield, TX.

Janet was an active member of her community. She volunteered at the Houston Hospitality Apartments that provided rent-free housing for families receiving medical treatment at Texas Medical Center. She volunteered as a docent in the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Janet also headed the scholarship committee at her chapter of the Texas Mayflower Society, which awarded scholarships to local high school seniors. She delivered Meals on Wheels and sang in the Prime Time Singers choir at West University First Baptist Church. She and Bill were longtime members of West University Church of Christ.

Throughout her life in Houston, College Station, and Mansfield, Janet belonged to several friendship circles. In the 1950s, she shared an apartment with a crew of roommates who remain in close contact to this day. As a young mother in Houston, she was an active member of the West University Streetwalkers, a neighborhood exercise group that grew into fast friends. During the same period, she also built bonds with those in her water exercise class. In College Station, Janet gathered each week with the Cool Beans, a lively group who took their name from their favorite coffee shop. When she moved to Mansfield, she embraced an Agape circle at First Baptist Church, sharing love, support, and ice cream weekly at Braum’s Ice Cream. Janet had a talent for friendship, which she invested in those she loved. To Janet, friendship was an art, and all her friends attest that she was a true virtuoso.

While Janet forged strong bonds with her friends, she also devoted precious time to her family. Janet attended Frances’ dance recitals and Will’s little league baseball games. With other moms, she sold baked goods to raise money for senior class trips. She volunteered many times to drive carloads of children to the Houston Science Museum. Her son recalls, “Those field trips are some of my most cherished memories from elementary school, and it means so much to me that Mom was always there.” Janet taught her daughter to name every plant and tree in the local environment and to measure a cup of water for a recipe at the bottom of the meniscus, explaining the science behind how liquids behave as she taught the art of cooking. According to her daughter, “My Mother passed down to me her love for flowers, songbirds, cooking, and choral music. These blessings of life that bring me so much joy all came to me through my mother.”

Janet was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; her five brothers and sisters-in-law: Luke and Merle Soules, Ed and Olla Soules, Fred and Sibyl Soules, J.T. and Aileen Soules, and John and Dorothy Soules; her nephew, Dallas Soules; her niece, Amy Beasley; and her sisters-in-law Vera Beasley, Marie Cheatham, and Jane Sikes. She is survived by her daughter,

Dr. Elenor Frances Frame; her son, William Burjes Frame, and wife Janet; her sister-in-law Jean Soules; her nephews Luke Soules III and wife Andrea, Joe Soules and wife Marie, John Soules and wife Judy, Hugh Soules and wife Kay, Jim Soules and wife Alina, and John Soules and wife LaVerne; her nieces Barbara Soules, Sue Soules, Lynn Gundell and husband Norman, Alicia Whitaker and husband Joe, Kay Soules and wife Barbara, Blanche Chisum and husband Dennis, Marijane Beasley and husband Loyd, Susan Beasley and husband Mike Lacy, and Kassie Collins and husband Fred; and numerous greatnephews and great nieces.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Central Church of Christ, the Texas Mayflower Society, or Aggieland Humane Society.