Frances Holbrook

Frances was born June 23, 1922 in Clearmont, MO to Amy & Clarence Holbrook and spent her childhood years in Northwest Missouri and Southwest Iowa. During a June, 1945 visit to friends in Wyoming she was delighted to see snow on the ground and decided that this would be a wonderful place to live. After teaching school for a year in Torrington, WY she enrolled in the University of Wyoming. In 1949, Frances received a B.S. degree in Zoology from the university in 1951. she joined the Zoology department as Dr. Floyd Clark’s secretary upon graduation and remained a proud and loyal employee of the University of Wyoming until her retirement in 1986. She was generous with her time, energy, knowledge, and friendship to the students she came in touch with and considered her assistance to students in pursuing and realizing their dream careeres as her greatest satisfaction in life. Picnics with friends and Vedauwoo, the time she spent at tht University of Wyoming Research Station in Jackson, and countless hours bird-watching provided a wealth of fond memories.

Due to declining health, Frances left her beloved Wyoming in 1998 to return to her family in Missouri. She was sustained in her final years without the beauty of Wyoming at her doorstep by her contacts with friends, colleagues, and students forged during her years of contentment at the University of Wyoming.

Frances happily joined her “riders in the sky” on December 7, 2007 in the comfort of the home she shared with her niece and nephew-in-law in KC, MO. She is survivied by her sister Florence, a niece and nephew and their spouses, a great-nephew, two great-great nephews, and countless friends and former students.