Frances M. Papa 1943-2025

Born Nov. 20, 1943, in Farrell, Pa., to Mildred and Carmen “Bull” Palanti, Fran was the first of four children.

A diligent student from her youngest days, she was internally driven to learn. After graduating as valedictorian from high school, she completed her nursing training at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown, where she discovered her deep compassion for others and a calling to serve. She completed her nursing degree at St. Louis University in the late 1960s and returned home to the Valley, where she spent more than five decades as a loving nurse, wife, mother and friend — determined to radiate love and arrange as many flowers as she could.

Family devotion is something Fran shared with her one true love, Tom Papa, with whom she fell in love with again and again, over and over, for more than half a century.

The challenge of raising four kids in a small house in a small town somehow only strengthened their love for each other. Even after 50 years, the first thing they reached for each morning was each other’s hands.

Fran was preceded in death by her parents and an infant daughter.

She is survived by husband, Tom; her four children, Frank, Keith, Brian and Gina (each of whom think they are the favorite); siblings, Marty, Bobby and Bertie; and her 10 unbelievably devoted grandchildren, whom she regularly smothered with deep-bosom hugs, baking lessons and endless craft projects. She also leaves behind an army-sized surplus of crocheted blankets, a meat sauce recipe that can’t be replicated and a nearly perfect rendition of Debussy’s Clair de Lune.

Fran was a bearer of burdens in the most beautiful sense. She opened her arms and her home to anyone in need, always believing it was her duty to help others find a clear path. Her life’s ambition was to lighten the load for those around her — not just in her work, but in every moment of daily life. Her empathy, honesty and sparkle-eyed smile drew people in. She was an unwitting steward of compassion — a quiet angel long before her passing. Anyone who encountered her knew her warm embrace and felt her forever love.

A celebration of Fran’s life and love will begin with calling hours 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, April 25, 2025, at Kelley-Cummins Funeral Home, 709 North Main St., Hubbard. An additional calling hour will be observed at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 26, 2025, at St. Patrick Church, 357 N. Main St., Hubbard, followed by a Catholic Mass at 10 a.m. and a luncheon thereafter.

Guests are encouraged to wear flowers or colors as alive as Fran’s spirit.

In lieu of flower gifts, the family requests memorial donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (www.stjude.org/donate/).

Please visit www.kcummins.com to view this obituary and to send condolences to the family.

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