Bath - Frances “Frannie” Elizabeth Callan Rogers, beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend left for heaven on Fri., Jan, 19th, 2018. She was 90 years old.

Frannie was born in Bath on May 17, 1927, the eldest child of James and Stella Boyce Callan.  As a child, she loved to dance and sing. Frannie was a great storyteller, and loved to recount the adventures she had around her hometown, including the time she climbed the Carleton Bridge towers, and how she rode her bicycle from Bath to Popham Beach on beach days. Sometimes, she accompanied her father on his Oakhurst Dairy milk route around the Bath area. Frannie loved to read and write stories.

She was secretary of her 1945 Morse High School class and was active in clubs and committees. She met her future husband, Winnegance-born Warren “Smudge” Rogers at Morse. They remained sweethearts and best friends for 70 years. They were married during a blizzard on December 26, 1950, sharing a double ceremony with Frannie’s brother, Richard, and his fiancé, Clare “Tillie” McKay.  Frannie and Smudge celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary last December. While attending the marriage of a granddaughter, Fran and Smudge were asked the secret of their marriage. “Just be good to each other,” Smudge answered. They worked hard, raised their family, and traveled the U.S. with friends, to Alaska, Arizona, Bermuda, California, Florida, Hawaii, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Frannie loved Las Vegas. “I like to watch the people,” she said, and she also played the slots from time to time. She traveled to Ireland with her sister, Mary, to visit the country of their Callan ancestors. The Bath area, though, was where Frannie’s heart lived. She especially enjoyed overseeing July 4th family gatherings at the family’s summer cottage at Quaker Point, on the New Meadows River. 

After graduating Morse High School, she attended UMO and trained to become a nurse at Central Maine General Hospital. She belonged to both the Chi Omega and Beta Sigma Phi sororities. She worked at the former Bath Memorial Hospital for 37 years in different capacities, as a floor RN, a clinical consultant, a Special Projects Director, and finally as Director of Nurses. She retired in 1992. Frannie’s practicality, her sense of humor, and her wide smile endeared her to her patients.  

Caring for family was central to Frannie’s life. She nursed her mother, Stella, at home for several years. After retirement, she traveled to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston to care for her son, Mikey, during his battle with leukemia.

Frannie is survived by her husband of 67 years, two daughters, Morgan “Patty” Callan Rogers and Mary Leopin and Mary’s husband, Derrick of West Bath, son Michael “Mickey” and wife Cynthia of Arizona and West Bath; five grandchildren, Molly Leopin and her partner Jasmine McLean and son Max, Casey Leopin and his wife Nicole, Krista Rogers, Danica Bartolini and her husband Phil, and Jaime Rogers, and two great-grandchildren, Boden and Violet Leopin. She leaves her sister, Mary Callan Philbrick, of Gorham, two sisters-in-law, Betty Callan and Judith Callan, and many nieces and nephews. Frannie was predeceased by her son, Mikey, and by brothers Richard, James, and John.  

Frannie was a devoted communicant of All Saints Parish in Bath, formerly known as St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, www.danafabergiving.org .

Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, Jan 25, 2018 from 4:00 – 6:00pm at the David E. Desmond & Son Funeral Home, 638 High Street, Bath.  A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, Jan 26, 2018 at 11:00am at All Saints Parish, St. Mary’s Church, 144 Lincoln Street, Bath.

To Share your thoughts and condolences with the family, please visit www.desmondfuneralhomes.com