Frances Barbara Walker Neal

Longtime Cleveland resident Frances Barbara Walker Neal passed away suddenly Sunday, April 3, 2005 at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa. She was 86.

Frances was born January 31, 1919 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Leon W. and Valentina (Backes) Wilkinson. After her fatherís death when Frances was two, her mother moved her daughters to New Orleans to live with her family. Frances graduated from high school at age 16 and entered Sophie Newcomb College at Tulane University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in 1938.
She met Kent W. Walker of Cleveland, Oklahoma at a Bible conference in Mount Nebo, Arkansas. A correspondence courtship ensued for a while, then stopped. In the meantime, Kent moved to San Diego, California to work in the aircraft factories. He renewed the correspondence and the couple decided they were meant for each other. They were wed in San Diego on June 20, 1942, surrounded by their mothers and several of Kentís friends from Cleveland who were also working in San Diego.

The terminal illness of Kentís mother brought the couple and their infant, Barbara, back to Cleveland in 1944 so he could help his father run the familyís feed business. Although she had always lived in big cities, Frances embraced small-town living, becoming involved in Garden Club and church activities while raising their family, which grew to four children by 1954.

Education was important to Kent and Frances, and in anticipation of putting four children through college, she accepted employment at The Cleveland American in the late 1950s, working as a reporter and writer. This career put her extensive English skills to work. But two weeks before the start of school in 1964 she learned that Cleveland Schools still needed a math and science teacher. She made a quick decision to put her college degree to work and accepted the position.

Frances taught at Cleveland Junior and High Schools for 15 years. She moved from teaching science and math to teaching foreign languagesóSpanish, French, and German. To maintain her excellence in whatever subject she was teaching, she attended summer school at Oklahoma State University every summer during her tenure and earned a Masters of Science from OSU during that time.

One of Francesí joys was doing needlework and sewing. In the 1950s and early 1960s, many of the exquisite gowns seen at CHS proms and Cleveland weddings were handcrafted by her, often using only a magazine photo as a guide. In the early 1980s, she and her sister, Rudy, opened a needlework shop, The Fancywork Basket. There they both displayed the talent they had inherited from their mother, doing expert knitting and quilting and assisting those who wanted to learn. They ran the business for many years until they both retired for good.

Another one of her passions was traveling. Frances and Kent took their family on summer vacations around the United States, but as a teacher, she took students on tours of Europe for many years. Later she and Kent traveled internationally, trekking to Europe, China, Indonesia, Australia, and all points in between.
Frances nursed Kent through the aftermath of his stroke until his death in 1995. In 2001 she met and married Arthur Neal of Prue, and introduced him to traveling.

Active in her adopted hometown, Frances was a member of the Cleveland Area Hospital Auxiliary and Golden Triangle Garden Club. She was a past president of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, and a former member of BPW, Green Country Quilters Guild and Philomathic Study Club. She was a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church, where she had served as an Elder, Clerk of the Session, and was a member of United Presbyterian Women and the choir.

Frances was preceded in death by her parents; two infant brothers and a young sister, Audrey; her husband, Kent; and her sister, Florence Wilkinson Beck. She is survived by her husband, Art, of the home; four children and spouses, Barbara and Jerry Abbott of Cleveland, Ron and Janie Walker of Edmond, Oklahoma, Bruce and Joyce Walker of Austin, Texas, and Cecilie and Dan Henning of Cleveland; six grandchildren, Eddie Walker of Oklahoma City, Mollie Abbott Heaberlin of Tulsa, Jeff Walker of Edmond, Jennifer Abbott Erwin of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Tyler Henning of Tulsa, and Drew Walker of Austin; seven great-grandchildren, Collin Heath, Casey Heaberlin, Katie Walker, Emily Walker, Samantha Walker, Campbell Walker Fields, and Samuel Walker Fields; her sister, Valentina ìRudyî Duckworth; and other relatives and friends.

Funeral services are at First Assembly of God on Thursday, April 7, 2005 at 2 pm The Reverends Natalie Ford and Dan Edens will officiate. The family invites friends to join them at a reception at First Presbyterian Church following the committal service at Woodland Cemetery.

Those wishing to remember Frances are invited to consider the First Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, Cleveland Portable Meals, CAH Auxiliary Scholarship Fund, or Cleveland Public Library.

Visit an online obituary and guestbook for Frances Walker Neal at www.chapman-black.com.