Frances Lynch OliverBorn: January 14, 1921, in Waverly
Died: April 28, 2020
Married: William Kuhn; William Oliver
Children: Sandra, William, Jeffrey (deceased)
Frances Lynch Oliver enlisted in the US Marine Corps and served as a gunnery instructor during World War II. For fifteen years, she was a teacher in the school system of Livingston, New Jersey. Upon her retirement, she and her husband moved to the Town of Franklin, where they renovated an 1840 farmhouse. Frances was instrumental in expanding the Franklin Food Co-op, and later won a seat on the Franklin Town Board.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise on April 30, 2020
Frances Lynch Oliver
Frances Lynch Oliver, aged 99, died in peace on April 28, 2020, at her home on Fletcher Farm Road in the Town of Franklin.
She was born on Jan. 14, 1921, and was the fourth of eight children born to Leo and Frances Lynch of Waverly, New York.
Frances was an intelligent and lively child, earning a scholarship to Buffalo State Teachers College (now SUNY Buffalo State College). Following graduation and a Bachelor’s degree in Education, she performed war work for Westinghouse. Eager to contribute more, she enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a gunnery instructor during the war. She met and married William Kuhn and later received an honorable discharge.
Frances and William had three children, Sandra, William and Jeffrey (now deceased), and they lived in Florham Park, New Jersey. Frances began teaching, first as a substitute, and then as a full-time primary school educator in the Livingston, New Jersey school system. When her children were still quite young, she earned a masters’ degree in education from Rutgers University.
In 1961 Frances earned her lifeguard certificate and obtained a summer position at Camp Undercliff on Lake Placid. It was there she met the love of her life, William Oliver. Two weeks after meeting her, he proposed and she accepted. The family moved to Livingston, New Jersey, and spent summers at Camp Undercliff until it closed in 1963.
They built a much-loved cabin on the West Shore of Lake Placid on the old Camp Undercliff grounds and vacationed with family and friends there for more than 40 years. The great times they had on the Lake became part of family lore.
Frances continued teaching in the Livingston school system until her retirement in 1976. She and William moved to the Town of Franklin, New York that same year. They spent a year or more renovating their 1840 farmhouse. William took on the challenge of creating living spaces for the elderly and his labors eventually became the Overlook Apartments in Bloomingdale.
Frances and her friend, Theresa Eshelman, helped organize and expand the Franklin Food Co-op, a food buying club for area residents and ran that successfully until the mid-1990’s. Thereafter, she campaigned for a won a seat on the Franklin Town Board.
Frances was ever a “more-than” woman. She was more intelligent, very energetic, generous, determined and more loving. She enjoyed gardening, sewing, traveling, hiking, and most of all her family and friends.
Frances is predeceased by her husband, William, her son, Jeffrey, and her step-daughter Beryl Haskell. She leaves behind her daughter, Sandra of Franklin, New York, son William Patrick and his wife Denise of Branchville, New Jersey, and stepdaughter, Judith Boynton of Keene, New Hampshire.
Memorial donations can be made to the Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad in care of Fortune-Keough Funeral Home.
A memorial mass will be held at St. Bernard’s Church, Saranac Lake, at a later date followed by interment in Lake Placid.
