Obituary: Frances Lee Coomes Strange, 80, Bardstown
Frances Lee Coomes Strange, 80, of Bardstown, died Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, at Flaget Memorial Hospital. She graduated from Bethlehem High School in 1959 and remained lifelong friends with her classmates. She attended Nazareth College. She married her husband on Dec. 26, 1963, and moved with him to Fort Smith, Ark., where he was serving in the U.S. Army. After his service was complete, they returned to Bardstown where they raised their three daughters. She worked as an administrative assistant at Heaven Hill Distillery for 31 years before retiring in 2004.
In 1985, they built their log cabin in the woods. She loved watching the hummingbirds from the back porch, canning and freezing fresh vegetables and fruit from their garden, celebrating holidays, and playing board games and cards with the family.
She loved traveling and spending time with family and friends. She planned many family adventures through the years, of which her trips to Ireland and St. George Island, Fla., were her favorites.
She spent countless hours volunteering and helping others. When her daughters joined the Nelson County High School Band, she started the Band Boosters to raise money for new band uniforms. She was an election poll worker and a Hospice volunteer for many years and was an active member of St. Monica Catholic Church where she made many wonderful friends. She started the bereavement committee and helped with Room In the Inn as well as multiple fundraising projects, but the committee that meant the most to her was the stewardship committee because their focus was on making everyone feel welcomed and valued.
The most important thing to her was her family. She always had a welcoming hug, unconditional love, insightful advice, and words and notes of encouragement for them. She was excited about the upcoming birth of her first great-grandchild.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lee and Mary Frances Coomes; her in-laws, Hyatt and Ollie Mae Strange; two sisters-in-law Mary Carolyn Edelen and Lucinda Strange; and three brothers-in-law Jimmie Nally, Joe Robert Strange, and Marion Strange.
She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Larry Thomas Strange; three daughters, Laura Strange of Bardstown, Jennifer Kaminski (Chris) of Owensboro, and Natalie Eckerle (Mark) of Louisville; one brother, Tom Coomes (Carol) of Oxford, Ohio; five sisters-in-law, Bernadine Strange, Bette Strange, Linda Nally, Lucy Smith (Frankie) and Suzanne Mattingly (Eugene); two brothers-in-law, Jerome Strange and Kendrick Strange (Mary); three grandchildren, Claire Bocook (Tim), Peter Kaminski, and Angelina Eckerle; two nephews, Andy Coomes and Justin Coomes; and a host of family and friends.
The Mass of Christian Burial is 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, at St. Monica Catholic Church in Bardstown with the Rev. Jason Harris officiating. Burial is in Holy Trinity Catholic Church Cemetery.
Visitation is 4:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021, and 8:30-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, at the Houghlin-Greenwell Funeral Home with a 7 p.m. Wednesday prayer service.
The family requests everyone wear face coverings inside the church and funeral home.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Monica Catholic Church and Bernheim Forest.
The Houghlin-Greenwell Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
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