Frances McCord, 90, 28-year resident of Oak Harbor, died at Fairhaven Adult Care Home on Monday, November 1, 2004.

Mrs. McCord was born Franceszka Drazek in West Warren, Mass., Feb. 14, 1914. In 1916, her father, Paul Drazek, took his wife and children back to his native Poland. Frances’ mother died when she was 10 years old. In 1917, her father sent Frances (then age 13) and her sister, Stephania (or Stella, as the family called her — age 17) back to America. They traveled to England in an overcrowded ship, and then to America, where the went to live with their grandmother on her farm in West Warren, Mass. Her father and her younger brother, Joseph, stayed behind in Poland to start a new life.

At the age of 16, Frances married Donald McCord in Norwich, Conn., April 21, 1930. They were married for 58 years. Frances is survived by two sons, Richard McCord and Donald McCord, Jr, 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Donald McCord in 1988, by two daughters Marilyn Smith and Jean Edvalds, as well as by her father, mother, sister and brother.

Visitation will be Friday, Nov. 5, 2004, from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Burley Funeral Chapel. There will be a gathering of family and friends to celebrate Frances’ life on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2004, at 1 p.m., at her family residence, Fairhaven, 1315 Monroe Landing Road, Oak Harbor. Memorials may be made to American Heart Association, 4414 Woodland Park Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103. Arrangements and cremation under direction of Burley Funeral Chapel.