Frances Ellen Bogaczyk
Frances Bogaczyk Obituary
Frances Ellen (Harding) Bogaczyk
1930-2019
The wonderful thing about human beings is that we each possess the ability to turn someone else's life around for the better. ~David Baird
Frances Ellen Bogaczyk, 89, of Mansfield (formerly Wellsboro and Covington, PA), passed Monday, September 16, 2019, at The Green Home in Wellsboro, PA, after a courageous battle with breast cancer. Clearly, the stars shone brighter that night.
She was the daughter of the late Walter R. Harding and Clara Millicent (Swanson) Harding of Blossburg, PA. She was also an adored wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and friend to all who took the time to get to know her. Fran attended Blossburg High School, completed her GED, and worked as a reading/writing teacher’s aide for seventeen years in the Wellsboro Area School District. She had a magical ability with children and was welcomed into several classrooms as a volunteer into her eighties.
Frances married Ambrose J. “Om” Bogaczyk on August 18, 1951, and they shared 51 joyful years until his passing in 2003. She loved spending time on the Bogaczyk Family farm with extended family and friends. As her nephew offered, “she was a great conversationalist.” She had wit and quiet wisdom, which she offered while coloring or doing dishes with several generations. She was truly beloved.
Besides time with her family, Fran enjoyed travel, walking, and attending youth sporting events. She also enjoyed reading mysteries, sending cards, and delivering a loaf of banana bread or chocolate chip cookies to her neighbors at Mansfield Court, where she helped build community for sixteen years through event planning. She understood the power of warm baked goods and warm words. Fran also supported several local and national charitable organizations and was a member of the Covington Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church of Wellsboro. She was an engaged citizen.
Frances is survived by her sister Lillian (Jack) Larrison, beloved sister-in-laws, Martha (Glenn) Bastian, Louise (Robert) Mitchell, Wanda (Tom) Bogaczyk, Glenda (Jim) Bogaczyk, and Pauline (Kelly) Harding, and a loving brother-in-law, Thomas Bogaczyk. She is also survived by her three children: Stephen A. (Judy Evans) Bogaczyk, Wellsboro, PA; Michael A. (Sheila) Bogaczyk, Covington, PA; and Patricia B. (Dennis) Spencer, Ithaca, NY; five grandchildren: Amy (John) Lehman, Norwood, PA: Neil (Brook) Bogaczyk, Williamsport, PA; Jacob (Kristi) Bogaczyk, Highland, NY; Andrea (Dan Mantz) Spencer, Sayre, PA; and Kienan Spencer, Knoxville, TN; eight great-grandchildren: Finnegan and Rhyan Lehman, Cole and Zevin Bogaczyk, Emma, Matthew, and Ellie Bogaczyk, and Casey Mantz; and a gaggle of adored nieces and nephews and their families.
Honoring her wishes, the immediate family will have a private funeral service and a celebration of her life in spring 2020 for extended family and friends. Details about the celebration will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, her family recommends donations in her memory to the following organizations:
To honor her seventeen years as a reading and writing teacher's aide--
The Blossburg Memorial Library
307 Main Street
Blossburg, PA 16912
The Mansfield Free Public Library
71 North Main Stree
Mansfield, PA 16933
The Green Free Library
134 Main Street
Wellsboro, PA 16901
https://www.greenfreelibrary.org/donations/
To support breast cancer awareness and honor the care she received from the Kathryn Candor Lundy Breast Health Center in Williamsport, PA, and/or The Green Home in Wellsboro, PA—
The Susquehanna Health Foundation will accept online donations in her memory and notify the family about the donation (patriciab.spencer@gmail.com):
Make a Donation to Our Hospitals in PA | Donate to Susquehanna Health
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To support a local hospice option—
Donate to the Samaritan House of Wellsboro: Samaritan House of Wellsboro
They also have volunteer opportunities available.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Frances Ellen Bogaczyk, please visit our floral store.
