Frances M. Bielecki, loving wife, mother and grandmother

FRANKLINVILLE — Frances M. Bielecki, 81, of North Academy Street, passed away Thursday (June 5, 2025) at the Pines Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Machias.

Fran was born Nov. 23, 1943, in Buffalo, and was the daughter of Frank F. and Dorothy Carr Gewand. On June 26, 1964, at St. Bartholomew Roman Catholic Church, she married Jerome S. Bielecki, who survives.

Fran was a 1961 graduate of Kensington High School. She attended Buffalo State College for Fine Arts in the early 1960s.

Fran taught at St. Peter & Paul Catholic School in Williamsville and at St. Gregory The Great in Amherst. She was a regional manager for Tupperware in the early 1970s.

The Bielecki family moved to Franklinville in 1972, where Fran became very actively involved in the community. She was a Girl Scout leader, a religious education teacher for the Catholic Church, a member of the Franklinville Women’s Club and the Sports Booster’s Club. Fran founded the Presbyterian Church preschool, where she taught area children for approximately 30 years.

For many years, she supported Ten Broeck Academy and Franklinville High School theatrical productions with makeup and costume design. She designed and created many mascots for local businesses and for the high school. For many years, she managed sports refreshment stands. One of Fran’s greatest pleasures was serving as yearbook advisor for the Franklinville School District, which she did from 1983 to 2012. She retired from her job of 20 years as a library aide at Franklinville High School in 2021, at the age of 78.

Fran was an outstanding artist and an avid Walt Disney fan, sports fan and reader, who enjoyed gardening and was renowned for her homemade jelly. In her youth, she was competitive in swimming, diving, gymnastics and figure roller skating. Fran always loved spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Along with her loving husband of 61 years, Jerome, Fran is survived by four children, Stephen (Kathleen), Tamasine (Cory), Devereaux (Diane) and Jason (Gayle) Bielecki; 10 grandchildren, Korey, Derek, Ryan, Kira, Jay, Scott, Dakota (Kyle), Cole, Zac (Leslee), Dawson and Beau; seven great-grandchildren, Jackson, Charlie, Sam, Henry, Lydia, Leighton and Isla; and three sisters, June, Evelyn and Debbie (Roy).

Fran was predeceased by her parents.

Friends will be received from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday (June 9, 2025) at the Babbitt & Easton Funeral Home, 7 N. Main St. Franklinville, at which time a funeral service will be held. Burial will be in Mount Prospect Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to AFTD, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, at https://www.theaftd.org/.

Online condolences may be made at https://www.babbitteastonfh.com/.