Frances Branstetter

Thank you to all of France's Friends. Updated Frances M. Branstetter (Hardesty), 97-year-old Nowata resident, passed away at 10:00 PM, Sunday March 25, 2007 at the Nowata Nursing Center. A Rosary was held at 7:00 PM, Thursday, March 29, at the Benjamin funeral Home Chapel with Father Michael Cashen officiating. Funeral Mass was held at 10:30 AM Friday, March 30th at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Nowata. Interment followed in the Nowata Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of the Benjamin funeral Home of Nowata. Online Condolences can be left for the family at www.honoringmemories.com. Frances was born February 3, 1910 in Washita County, Oklahoma near Colony to James Milton Hardesty and Sarah Lucinda Berglan. She spent a few years of her childhood in the Mountain Home area before the family moved to Carnegie. They later relocated to Cache and then to Cushing where Frances graduated from Cushing High School. After high school Frances worked for Southwestern Bell as a telephone operator and attended full time at Oklahoma A&M from 1928 to 1931. She was a member of the Delta Zeta Sorority. On November 7, 1931, she married Max Branstetter in Wellington, Kansas. While Max worked for Southwestern Bell, they lived in various Eastern Oklahoma towns finally settling on a farm in western Nowata County in December 1945. Frances was an active member in her community, being instrumental in forming the Women's Adair Home Demonstration Club in January 1947; she served as its president and president of the Nowata County Council of Extension Clubs. She was a founding member of the Bartlesville ARC. She also was a founding member of the Nowata County Historical Society in 1968 and served on its board until her death. She was active in the Nowata Garden Club, the 4-H Club and the annual Nowata County Fair serving in various capacities. She helped organize area participation in the Women's World Day of Prayer and also was a delegate to the Presidential Council on Aging. She was an active member of the Democratic Party serving on the County Election Board until her death. She took great pride in her vegetable garden, dairy and farm produce providing her family with organically-grown provisions long before it was fashionable. She was a friend to all of any age or belief; a lifelong student of nature and the environment and a firm believer in freedom of speech. Surviving her are four children, Mark and his wife Connie Branstetter of Nowata, Barbara Branstetter of Tulsa, Frances and her husband Ed Redding of Tulsa, and Scott and his wife Mary Branstetter of Nowata. Other survivors include four grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, James Milton and Sarah Lucinda; her husband, Max; by two children, Brent "Mike" and Mary Max; and her sisters and brothers: Valeria Renegar, Harry Hardesty, Rev. Leo Hardesty, Viola Sheridan, Raymond Hardesty, Miriam Throne and A.L. Hardesty (who died at birth). Close this Condolence Card

Service Details

Friday, March 30th, 2007 10:30am, St. Catherine Catholic Church

Interment Details

Nowata Memorial Park Cemetery