How hard it is to make it through life without witnessing tragedy. I've had friends, family and students who were still but in their prime when death came swooping in unannounced. In the case of Frances Annis Bayne, her life was tragically taken in an automobile accident at the age of 17.
This was my mother's youngest sister. They called her "Francie". Although I never got to meet her personally, my mother made mention of her from time to time. Francie was just about to graduate from high school, when she and her fiancé Jesse Lynn Phillips were involved in a car crash.
According to my mother, her sister had epilepsy. It was plausible that while Jessie was driving Francie had a seizure, perhaps causing a momentary distraction. Jesse lost control of the wheel, and the car crashed into a concrete barrier. He was killed instantly. Francie died the following day, Friday March 14, 1969.
They are both buried in the Phillips family plot, section 7, at Earthman Resthaven Cemetery in Houston, Texas.
According to my mother, her sister had epilepsy. It was plausible that while Jessie was driving Francie had a seizure, perhaps causing a momentary distraction. Jesse lost control of the wheel, and the car crashed into a concrete barrier. He was killed instantly. Francie died the following day, Friday March 14, 1969.
They are both buried in the Phillips family plot, section 7, at Earthman Resthaven Cemetery in Houston, Texas.
I have a few old photos from Francie's childhood. One has a note written on the back: "AKA Grinny Bill". This is how we will remember her - in a perpetual state of cheerful youthfulness.