Frances Kent Dickman
April 30, 1941-Jan. 14, 2022
San Jose, California

Frances Kent Dickman passed away on January 14, 2022, with her beloved daughters at her side. Debbie Thomas (Tadd), Jenifer Tighe, and Kimberly Fleming (Jon),seven grandchildren, Piper and Drew Thomas, Blair and Allix Bunge and Jack, Beau and Kate Fleming, three sisters, Barbra Wood (Bill), Claudia Dickman, and Sandra Dickman, and her many nieces and nephews.

Fran was born in Oakland to W. Bernard and Edith Dickman on April 30, 1941. Her family lived in Oakland, where Fran attended Crocker Highlands Elementary School, until 1951 when they moved to Atherton, where Fran lived, attending Encinal Elementary School and Menlo-Atherton High School, until she went to University of Oregon in the fall of 1959. She joined the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and studied to become an elementary school teacher. At Oregon she met her future husband, David Yee, the father of her three children, and they were married in 1960. They divorced in 1977.

In her twenties Fran discovered the game of bridge, and with her natural ability for numbers and strategy, and her love of competition, became an excellent and much-respected player. She enjoyed her many bridge friends in bridge clubs and on trips to play in tournaments. She reached the pinnacle of bridge success when she became celebrated as a Grand Life Master in 2008.

Over the years, Fran’s extended family has maintained a special closeness, sharing in holiday celebrations, vacations to Hawaii, and trips to fish on the Rogue River. In more recent years Fran and her three sisters have enjoyed a companionable relationship.

Fran was the proud matriarch of her own family. She enjoyed an unbreakable bond with her daughters and an admiring affection for her grandchildren. The center of family gatherings, she was a sympathetic ear with a sage perspective and was the foundation of her progeny.

Fran will always be remembered for her generosity, her lovely, feminine presence, her impeccable style and flare for fashion, her warm and welcoming smile, her love of dancing, her baking prowess, and her wonderful sense of humor.

While there is a hole in all of our hearts, we are comforted by our sweet memories of Fran.

In lieu of flowers, please submit photos and written memories to: rememberingfran2022@gmail.com