Frances Hardenbrook Herron

Frances Hardenbrook Herron, daughter, sister, wife, aunt, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, best friend, great-aunt, certified clown, adventurer, dancing queen, conneseiuer of Budweiser and the Margarita, train hopper and hostess with the mostess, peacefully passed away in Farmers Branch, Texas on March 25, 2019. She lived life to the fullest for 96 years and her passing represents the end of an era. Paradise, Montana, was her beginning, Dallas was her end, and in between she lived from one coast to the other and even called Alaska her home.
Love at first sight is real and it blessed Fran and Neal F. Herron, the love of her life. They met in Washington D.C. while WW II raged, falling into a whirl wind romance only to be suddenly separated: she was stationed on the West Coast in Oakland, California while he fought in the Pacific Theater. Surviving the war, distance and time, Fran traveled by train to marry her love in Perth Amboy, New Jersey (Neal’s hometown) in June of 1945. It was there that they began their lives together living at Neal’s family home on Groom Street then moving to Fairbanks, Alaska.
They would eventually call Texas home and there they raised their two sons and daughter. Their family continued to grow as their children married and gave Fran and Neal seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Fran’s love of life and laughter led to a stint at Clown School where she enjoyed years of entertaining hundreds of families in hospitals in need of laughter and joy, while Neal continued his work as an orthopedic surgeon privately and for the Air Force. They were a dynamic duo to say the least, always up for having a laugh, harmless pranks, helping others and loving without limit.
Fort Worth was their home together where Fran, or “Bubba” as she was lovingly known, and Neal, also known as “Grandphar,” maintained a FUN circle of friends and were steadies at the local VFW. Over the years they enjoyed a myriad of travel and adventure together, inspiring their family to do the same. After Neal’s passing in 2001, Fran and her much loved pup, Bo Jangles, lived in Ft. Worth until Bo Jangles’ passing in 2015.
The many years of tennis and long walks on the golf course enabled Fran to live and love and laugh in this world until she was ready to join Neal on March 25th. She leaves behind a legacy of snipe hunting, quick wit, questionable Scrabble words, dancing, beer biscuits, the best lasagna and fiercely loving those who were lucky enough to have been loved by her. She is survived by her loving brother and sister, Denis Hardenbrook and Lois Fisher and their families, her three children sons Neal III and Denis Jude, and daughter Deirdre, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren as well as her dear nieces, nephews and their children who hail from Washington, Alaska, Colorado, New York and New Jersey.

‘This is not good-bye, it’s just See ya later.’ – Frances Hardenbrook Herron.