Good-bye Good Friend

Dear Fellow Unit Owners,

The Village lost a true friend last week.  Frances Mesirow passed away peacefully in her apartment at age 85.

Originally from Pittsburgh PA, Frances moved to Washington DC with her first husband, Edward Branchik, in 1949.  They had two children, Kathy and Richard.  After Edward’s death at age 40 in 1966, Frances married attorney Allen Mesirow, with whom she had worked for many years, in 1968.  Their marriage was described as “a match made in heaven.”

I spoke with her daughter Kathy for a short while and noticed that her speaking voice was quite similar to Frances’.  I mentioned that and Kathy recounted a memory from her high school years.

During this time Frances worked at her husband’s law office.  On one particular day Kathy was at her parents’ office when a call came in.  Frances was away from the phone so Kathy picked up.  The call was from one of Frances’ friends who, thinking Frances had answered immediately launched into a highly detailed description of her recent hysterectomy.

Kathy tried repeatedly to break into the woman’s narrative, but with no success.  Finally, Frances’ friend paused to take a breath and Kathy was at last able to say, “I…I…I think YOU think I’m my mother.” Kathy says she’s never been more relieved to end a telephone conversation than she was to end that one. 

Allen also died at a relatively young age, 62, in 1976.  Frances stayed in the DC area for awhile until she moved to St. Thomas in late 1979.  Frances left the Caribbean and became a resident of the Village in the mid-90’s.  She bought her unit in the Yorkshire in 2002.

Much of her life here was devoted to our Association.  She was elected to the Board in the mid 2000’s and again in 2012.  She focused her efforts on the sales and leases committee and the unit owners benefitted by her determination to keep the process honest, accurate and transparent.  She will be missed.

She leaves behind her two children as well as her two sisters, Dorothy Herrick and Margie McKenzie.

Frances Mesirow (1929-2015)

Rest in Peace good friend.