Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death.
Frances Ann Leisure Bardenhagen passed away in Richland, Wash., on April 19, 2022, at the age of 98. Two weeks shy of her 99th birthday, Fran, previously a resident of Sherman County and The Dalles, Ore., passed peacefully at Kadlec Medical Center with her family at her side.
Born May 5, 1923, in Cooperstown, N.D., to Ross and Anna Leisure, Fran grew up with her older siblings Clarence and Marilyn on their parents’ dairy farm. She and her sister came home from school each afternoon to scrub milk bottles, which were then filled and delivered by her father and his mule-drawn milk wagon around the town the next morning. After graduating from Cooperstown High in 1941, she attended business college in Fargo before moving with her sister Marilyn and working for the war effort at Hanford in Pasco, Wash. They then moved to San Francisco to become switchboard operators at Pacific Bell, a daring and exciting change from the dairy in North Dakota.
While in San Francisco, she met a handsome young sailor, Hans Bardenhagen, from Grass Valley, Ore. Hans was stationed in San Francisco while serving for the U.S. Navy. After the war, they married on Valentine’s Day 1948, and returned to his family’s farm outside of Grass Valley, where they lived and raised their family of four daughters.
Fran was a dedicated mother and a talented seamstress, sewing matching outfits for her girls throughout their childhood. She later worked as a secretary at Sherman County High School. A talented artist and stylish woman, Fran expressed herself through her sewing as well as painting and drawing. She enjoyed golfing, dancing, and traveling with her husband as well.
Fran and Hans retired from the farm and moved to The Dalles in 1986. For many years, they wintered in Yuma, Ariz., joining their friends there to enjoy the sun and golf. After Hans’s passing in 2006, Fran continued to enjoy her family life, visiting often with her daughters and their families.
Fran was preceded in death by her husband, Hans, and her parents and siblings. She is survived by her four daughters, Terri Bardenhagen of The Dalles, Vicki Wagenblast of Lexington, Patti Ketchum of Moro, and Kitty Neill of Kennewick, Wash., as well as nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. A proud and devoted mother, she will be missed by all, but they take comfort in knowing she is dancing with her handsome cowboy, Hans, once again.
A memorial is planned for later this spring.
To plant a tree in memory of Frances Bardenhagen as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.
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