FRAN RORER GREICIUS died June 19, 2020, in Albuquerque, NM. Her release from her physical body brought relief from intractable back pain. Now she can move and dance to the sound of the classical, new age and blues music she enjoyed. One of her favorite musicians was Taj Mahal. 

Fran was born in Taft, CA, on March 19, 1944. Her father was L. Frank "Mickey" Rorer who was an Army Air Corps pilot. Her mother, Isabelle Crum Rorer, was a teacher and graduate of Trenton State College. Their first child had red hair and turquoise eyes. Where did this red hair come from? Neither parent knew anyone on either side of the family who had red hair. Fran's bright red curls turned heads wherever she went. 

When Mickey was sent overseas, Isabelle returned to her hometown of Trenton, NJ. Isabelle took a job teaching with the Hamilton Township Schools. Her parents, Cleve and Libby Crum, took care of Franny while her mother was teaching.

When the war was over, Mickey opened a Ford dealership in Sellersville, PA.The family, which included another daughter, Louise, moved to 56 Grand View Avenue in Sellersville. Fran took her first art lessons and attended kindergarten and first grade there. She went with her class to see the Howdy Doody show in person as it was being broadcast from Philadelphia.

Mickey moved his expanding Ford dealership, Sell-Park Ford, to a larger lot up Route 309 in Quakertown. Fran attended the local schools there through the middle of sixth grade. Her red hair was such an attention getter that her sixth grade teacher asked her which brand of dye she used on her hair. Fran took piano lessons (which she didn't like) while living there. In the middle of the school year, December, 1955, the family moved to 6 Orchard Way, Yardley, PA. The family now included two more daughters, Sherri and Roxanne.

The elementary school building in her new home town was quite a contrast to the school building Fran attended in Quakertown. The school was all on one floor; she didn't have to go to the creepy basement to use the restroom! They had a gymnasium, a library and something called "assembly." 

Fran blossomed with all the activities available in the Pennsbury School District which included Yardley, Lower Makefield Township, Fairless Hills and part of Levittown. In the 9th grade, she made the varsity field hockey team. Usually freshmen were on the junior varsity but she was such a gifted athlete that she immediately played with the varsity. At 5' 8", she also played varsity basketball. She was an excellent student and particularly loved her history and Problems in American Democracy classes. She was a member of the Model United Nations which met in Philadelphia and did well there. At the the senior award convocation in spring 1962, she was recognized as the top student in the PAD class and was awarded a gold ball for being a varsity athlete for four years. There was a third award, but time has erased the memory of what it was for.

She was an independent thinker who didn't always follow the rules. She strayed from the typical path of college prep students who took 4 years of English, math, science, history and foreign language. Instead. she replaced one of the subjects with an art class in her senior year, a prelude to her future. Occasionally, she skipped P.E. class and smoked cigarettes with a friend under the statue of William Penn in front of the high school. She refused to take a typing class because if she could type, she was afraid she would be made a secretary. 

She had a curiosity about the world beyond southeastern Pennsylvania where she was raised. So after high school graduation in 1962, she attended Sophie Newcomb College, the women's division of Tulane University, in New Orleans, LA. Sophie Newcomb awarded her a merit scholarship. Her intention was to major in political science and become a lawyer. She enjoyed her high school art class so much that she also enrolled in several art classes during her first two years. Many of the pieces she created were kept by the college for their permanent collection.

Tulane had many students from Latin American and she enjoyed interacting with these international students. To fulfill her language requirement, she took Portuguese. Tulane was probably one of the few schools offering Portuguese. By her sophomore year, she was taking graduate level political science classes. Then one conversation with a professor turned her world upside down. He told her she could go on to law school, but no one would hire a woman lawyer. This was a revelation. Growing up in a home with three female siblings, there was never any discussion on the limits on what a woman could do. Now the reality of the prejudiced world hit her. 

The summer after her sophomore year, her mother suggested she flip her plans: make art her vocation and politics her avocation. It is a shame she had gone to school in the south which was behind the northeast in women's rights. Her sister Louise's college roommate became a prominent lawyer in New York City and was only one year behind Fran. Her life might have taken a totally different path if she had gone to college elsewhere.

In order to apply to art school, she needed a portfolio which she did not have. She enrolled in Trenton Junior College and created the prerequisite portfolio. During this busy time, she volunteered to be 11 year old Roxanne's Girl Scout Leader when none of the mother's stepped up. The next spring, she was accepted by Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. She majored in Interior Design because that would allow her to have a profession. Her preference would have been a fine arts studio major but that wasn't practical and the Rorer sisters were always practical. While at Moore, she was awarded a grant to study in Brazil. Thank you, Tulane, for the Portuguese. 

She received her BFA from Moore College in the spring of 1968. Shortly after graduation, she was hired by Vincent Kling Architects, the largest architectural firm in Philadelphia during the '60's and '70's. The projects on which she was the lead designer included the Philadelphia Airport, the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. and the Scheie Eye Institute of the University of Pennsylvania. She received the S.M. Hexter Award for designing and creating "The Interior of the Year 1972" for the Scheie Eye Institute project. This was a national juried competition. 

She always felt that Interior Designers did not get the respect they deserved. The public looked down on them because every housewife can pick out a sofa and rugs and curtains. What's the big deal? But she felt it was not an option to get an architecture degree. It was just another male dominated field that wouldn't hire women.

On July 8, 1973, Fran married John Thomas Greicius at her parents' home, 11 Richie Lane, Yardley, PA. John was a resident of New York City. He believed the only place to live was in Manhattan. When staying at his in-laws home, he found the birds who chirped cheerily in the morning extremely annoying. And don't even mention the sound of the lawn mowers! Fran, on the other hand, found the sound of the early morning garbage trucks careening through the streets of New York disruptive of a good night's sleep. Nevertheless, the couple moved to Manhattan and resided in a large loft on the top floor of a converted factory on Mercer Street in SoHo. They had access to the roof and built a beautiful garden full of thriving plants and trees on that roof.

John worked in group sales at MidEast Airlines and later for Korean Air Lines. He could find wonderful deals for his mother-in-law to satisfy her travel urge. He and Fran took many trips to Europe, Asia and Latin America where they collected mementos from their travels. Fran was working at Gibbs and Hill Engineering firm as a designer. She didn't care for the job. She eventually resigned from her position and took silk screen classes with Betty Parsons. She was enthralled with the opportunity to use her creativity unencumbered by design project parameters.

John decided to start an air cargo company called Sky Bridge. He would engage planes to fly cargo to a destination and then find cargo to fill the holds so the plane would not return empty to its departure location. He and Fran decided to start a family and Fran was free to pursue her artistic instincts. The day John's first flight took off, he died suddenly in Fran's arms from an irregular heart beat. It was January 27,1977. All their savings had been invested in the new venture. Fran was without a job. John had interviewed three life insurance agents the prior week but had not chosen a policy. Fran was left in a terrible financial situation and did not have time to fully grieve. For six months, she tried to keep John's business going, but she did not have the contacts John did. She folded her tent and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where her sister, Louise, lived. She never seemed the same after this emotionally wrenching period. 

After her parents and youngest sister, Roxanne, moved to Albuquerque, Fran decided to open a furniture store there. To do this, she borrowed money from family. She offered Scandinavian knock-down furniture imported from Sweden, similar to Ikea. After about five years, she had to declare bankruptcy. She was too thinly capitalized and lacked a salesman's personality. This experience added more fuel to her negative view of the the world which originated with her exposure to limits placed on women's aspirations.

She never wanted to be a designer for homes, having to match a sofa to a painting and work around a lot of existing furniture. She returned to the Philadelphia area and worked for an office furniture retailer. She also took some ceramics classes and was joined by her college roommate, Carol Carrino. Fran made some incredible pots and was awarded first prize in a show. She was not happy in her retail job and eventually took advantage of a New Jersey program to assist people in getting more education. In 1993, she received a Master of Arts from Rowan College of New Jersey. Her field was public relations.

A friend told her about a job in Findlay, OH. She put all her possessions in a rental truck and drove to Findlay. The job was as a sales rep for the publisher of law and accounting books. This was an unfortunate mismatch of skills. She taught a one semester course in Public Relations at the local community college but was not invited to teach any other classes. The good that came from this move was meeting Bill Sowers, an arborist in Findlay. He had a large business trimming trees throughout Ohio. He and Fran shared an interest in the outdoors and nature. She started a business, Land Plan Fran, to create landscapes for Bill's customers, but there wasn't much call for landscape designs. She also started Blanchard Valley Public Relations but again there was little call for a PR expert in the Findlay area. Eventually, Fran and Bill moved in together. Later, they bought a house on five acres with a pond. She enjoyed watching the wildlife run through their property.

Fran was close to Bill's youngest son, Scott. She encouraged him to go to college and stick with the classes to earn a degree. Thanks to her support, Scott became the first member of the Sowers family to earn a college degree. Bill's youngest child, Dawn, was also a large part of Fran's life in Findlay. Dawn gave birth to a daughter, Katelyn, circa 2003. Dawn was often busy doing things outside of the home, so Bill and Fran played a large role in raising Katelyn. Fran enjoyed the opportunity to watch a child develop as she never had children of her own. She wanted to encourage Katelyn to develop her creative side and provided Katelyn with paints, paper, crayons and other tools. She bought books and read to her. As Katelyn got older, Fran took her to places such as a children's museum and to various parks. Katelyn called her Granny Franny and bought her a mug that said "I love Grandma." Fran saved drawings and papers that Katelyn brought home from school. Fran dearly loved Katelyn. When Katelyn's father, Matt Walter, sought custody of Katelyn, Fran and Bill did not oppose the custodial arrangement. They felt the Walter family would provide a wholesome environment in which to nurture Katelyn. Although they did what they believed was best for Katelyn, sadly, this arrangement meant they would not see Katelyn very often. 

Fran considered herself a failure. Her art work had never been good enough; her business ideas never provided her with a secure income. She was always running scared, afraid of the future. Although she and Bill were companions for over twenty years, they never married. Initially she wanted to marry him, but then realized that there were too many complications involving his six adult children. 

She eventually moved to the Bay City, MI, area where her middle sister, Sherri, lived. It was about a three hour drive from Findlay, so she and Bill could still visit one another. She looked forward to having social interaction with Sherri and attending functions with her. Although they scheduled some get togethers, they often had to be postponed due to Fran's back pain. Then Sherri suffered two life threatening medical conditions and the two sisters rarely saw one anther.

Fran made attempts to develop a circle of friends in Michigan by attending the Unitarian Church and senior citizens lunches. Due to problems with her back, she would have to take a seat at the church events rather than circulate. The people were polite but no real friendships developed. The women at the Senior Center had known each other since kindergarten and didn't need new friends. In spite of daily phone conversations with Bill, she was physically and socially isolated in Michigan.

In March of 2019, one of Fran's neighbors called Louise. She told Louise that Fran needed rescuing. Her finances were a mess and she wasn't taking care of herself. Roxanne flew to Albuquerque from her home in Lake Tahoe. The three sisters drove to Michigan with the aim of moving Fran back to Albuquerque where Louise and Sherri lived. The three sisters stayed in Michigan two weeks. Louise straightened out the finances and Sherri and Roxanne arranged the move. Because the move was to a smaller place which lacked a two car garage, a lot of Fran's belongings had to be sold. The garage sale was an unpleasant experience. Fran felt she was losing her past. She was also humiliated that she had come to the point where she needed help. 

Louise and Fran drove to Albuquerque by way of Findlay so she could say good-by to Bill. Bill was in a nursing home, unable to get out of bed. He was in tremendous pain. He and Fran talked for awhile and hugged when it was time to leave. They continued to telephone each other almost daily. Roxanne drove the rental truck full of Fran's possessions and Sherri was navigator on the ride to Albuquerque.

Louise and Sherri scouted senior complexes in Albuquerque which would allow smoking. Fran was addicted to cigarettes since she was sixteen years old and could not stop. They found three nice complexes on the west side of town and Fran picked the one she liked best, La Terraza. She had a two bedroom apartment with a lot of closet space, her own washer and dryer and a third floor balcony. She loved living there and spent a lot of time on the balcony watching early morning hot air balloons. Her views included the volcanic escarpment to the west and the Sandia mountains to the east

She was a new person when she lived in Albuquerque. No more negativity. She expressed her thanks numerous times and would tell others how her sisters had saved her life. She now had dentures, hearing aids and a 2007 Ford 500 to drive. She was being treated by a pain specialist for severe back pain. Unfortunately, this chronic back pain was keeping her from being able to sit up long enough to create art. Dr. Nairn was trying to localize where the pain originated. He said there were so many defects in her spine that a surgeon would not know where to operate. His hope, and Fran's hope, was that he could help relieve some of the pain, but the detective work was a slow process. She could only have three epidurals in six months. The first two did nothing. The third one given higher on her spine helped for several days. Dr. Nairn was narrowing in on the major source of pain. The fourth one gave her pain relief for two weeks. Sadly, she died suddenly before a solution for her chronic back pain could be found. Louise found her slumped on the floor by her bed, June 19, 2020. The Office of the Medical Investigator said she was on her way to the bathroom when she was felled instantly by a heart attack or stroke.

Fran's remains were cremated. The ashes were spread on the berm behind Louise's house overlooking an area left in its natural state. The wildlife is abundant here with deer browsing the columbine, red twig dogwood and cotoneasters. Rabbits are prolific when the coyotes are scarce. Fox and skunks and raccoons may stop for a drink from the artificial stream. Birds can be seen splashing in the water nearly any time of day. Rest in peace, beloved sister. 

She is survived by her sisters, Louise Rorer Rosett (Walter) and Sherri Rorer Baker of Albuquerque and Roxanne Rorer Stern (Robert) of Lake Tahoe, NV.

             "Artists know a special pain because they imagine a work and see it
             in their heads but can never achieve what they'd imagined, and forever
             carry the anguish of unmet ambition." Pope John Paul II