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A graveside Memorial Service for Frances McBride is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 15, 2006, at Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mortuary, 9101 Kern Canyon Rd., 661-366-5766.
Frances Anita Reardon was born at Lawton, Oklahoma, on September 12, 1921, and raised as an Army brat at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, with mother, Myrtle Irene; stepfather, Field Artillery Sergeant Earl M. Beadle; sister, Helen Marie Reardon, and halfbrothers, Earl, Winston, Duane and Kent Beadle.
Frances won a Most Beautiful Baby Contest at the age of 18 months, was marble champion in elementary school, and had an adventurous childhood playing with her friends and siblings along Medicine Creek and in the woods surrounding the Fort. She and sister Helen were voracious readers throughout their lives. One childhood summer Helen and Frances read 300 books.
Frances married E. T. McBride, Jr., on September 22, 1937, at Minnitt, Texas in Castro County. Frances and E. T. had two children when the family moved to Bakersfield in April 1943.
When the United States mobilized for World War II, E. T. was drafted into the U.S. Navy and Frances sewed and packed parachutes at Minter Field. Later, Frances and sister Helen moved, with their children, to Pacific Grove, California, while E. T. served as a Gunner's Mate for the U.S. Navy aboard the Merchant Marine Victory Ship S.S. South Africa, and Helen's husband, Orville Pierce, an architect and artist, served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific.
Following the war, when E. T. and Frances moved back to Bakersfield, housing was in short supply. They bought their first home in Oildale, where they lived and raised their children until 1954, when they had a home built near East Bakersfield High School.
As their children moved into junior high and high school, Frances attended Lufkins Business College in Bakersfield, worked as a bookkeeper for Yellow Cab, and then Bruce SticklerÕs Stationers, and finally was Office Manager and Chief Accountant for Greater Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, where she worked for 27 years, from the time of the hospitalÕs opening until the death of her husband.
Fran's lifelong passion was art, her hobby for thirth-five years. Her work earned eight first place awards, four second place awards, and two third place awards, as well as district awards and a number of honorable mentions. Because of her husband's illness over a period of sixteen years, Frances was unable to continue attending art shows and producing paintings for galleries, but she continued to paint as time permitted and to sell paintings from her home.
After caring for her husband through his long illness, Frances became a widow on February 8, 1983, after which she began to develop some of her most cherished friendships and began to do more painting.
Dancing was also a lifelong activity that both Frances and her husband enjoyed. During her retirement years in Bakersfield, Frances enjoyed a membership in National Smooth Dancers, taking dance lessons, and attending dances and dance competitions. She was also an active member of Surviving Mates where she also met and made many good friends.
In April 1998, following open heart surgery to replace a mitral valve, she moved to Mesa, Arizona, with her daughter, Diane, and near son Tom's home. During that time she was able to occasionally accompany her son or daughter on outings and to Sunday School and Church and she became a juried member of the Arizona Art Alliance.
Very shortly before her death, Frances met brothers, Earl and Winston at Sky Harbor Airport for a very special reunion. Frances was also able to stay in touch with her brother, Kent, by telephone, Sister, Helen died in 1980 and brother, Duane in 1984.
Frances died of congestive heart failure on Friday, November 4, 2005, at the age of 84, leaving behind her three brothers: Earl, Winston, and Kent Beadle; her son, Tom McBride and daughter, Diane Garratt; four grandchildren: Sean and Erin Edwards, and Patrick and Ryan McBride and their families, including thirteen great grandchildren: Christa, Raina, Kiara, and Alana Edwards; Raquel and Craig Yeomans; Brandon, Ashley, Jeffrey, and Bailey McBride, and Adryan, Marina, and Donavan McBride.
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