Frances "Fran" Ellen Wyche

Frances “Fran” Ellen Wyche, 102, of Zavalla passed away peacefully on March 4, 2023.

Born in Detroit, Michigan to Herman and Ila Doran Walton, she grew up in Beaumont and was a longtime Colmesneil resident.  Fran was an avid twirler who was one of the first to use a fire baton and later won the state baton-twirling champion in 1939. 

She married her high school sweetheart, who was in the U. S. Air Corp.  Together they traveled around the country as well as into Okinawa, Japan and through China.   After spending time in Beaumont and Houston and raising her son, Robert, and surviving two husbands, she worked a variety of jobs, including a stint as a receptionist at NASA.  She also managed her brother’s restaurant in Colorado for a time and later returned home to be with her aging mother. 

When she moved to Tyler County in 1974, she joined the Round Dance club at the Opera House and helped out as a hostess at the Friday night dinner dances and for many other occasions.  She moved from her home on Frog Pond to Zavalla where she enjoyed being around the animals on her son’s farm.     

Fran is survived by her son, Robert Wyche and wife Charity of Zavalla; grandson, Robert Ellis Wyche and wife, of Drums, PA; granddaughter, Kari Wyche Bollich and husband, of Orange; granddaughter, Kelli Denise Kibler and husband of Varysburg, NY; five great grandsons and three great granddaughters; and a host of other family members and friends.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, March 16, 2023, at 2 pm at the Riley Funeral Home, Woodville, Texas.

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