Frances A. Wicen, 84

Frances A. Wicen, 84, passed away Sept. 12, 2009, in Whitefish. She was born July 19, 1925, in Argenta, a child of the Great Depression. Attending a one-room schoolhouse and sharing a two-room house with her parents and five siblings, she often recalled how her parents, George and Lillie, shared what little they had with the surrounding neighbors.

She later moved to the Centerville area of Butte after her father obtained employment at the Argo Copper Mine.

She married Robert Wicen there on June 27, 1943, and shortly thereafter, moved to Whitefish where she had remained.

Frances was one of the first Whitefish Carnival penguins, then a traveling goodwill group, making people aware of the jewel that was Whitefish.

She managed and owned the historic Sampson block on Second Street until 1978.

She was a lifetime member of the Women of the Moose and a member of the Rebeccas.

Ever busy in retirement, Frances was an election commissioner for a few years, a greeter and member of the altar guild at the Episcopal Church, and a supporter of the Flathead Sheriff's Posse through her companion Dale Howke.

She was preceded in death by her sisters, Martha Van Ham and Georgia Mae French; and brother, James Knapp.

Frances is survived by her daughter; four granddaughters, and four great-grandchildren; and her sisters, Margaret Cargill of Columbia Falls, and Betty Rickett, of Billings. She is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews; great-nieces and great-nephews; and friends and neighbors who stayed close to her until the end.

She was laid to rest near her family at Glacier Gardens and is honored by a short biography painted on one of the buildings on Second Street in downtown Whitefish.