•Part 1
"Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship." ---Margaret Mead
An only child, I can't attest to the first part, but a family friend of the Upchurch sisters, I can confirm the latter. Better known locally as Frances Frazier (1934-1989) and Marilyn Moore (1941-1999), the Mississippi natives made their mark in Franklinton, the place they belonged.
While I didn't know them in their early years, I was aware the sisters hailed from Louisville, Mississippi, a small town in Winston County in Central Mississippi - it is the county seat.
All of this I learned from Kay Evelyn Stephenson Bell (1942-2018), a longtime Franklinton resident and a native of Columbus, Mississippi. Ms. Kay shared interesting stories with me, some years before her passing, and one of those was fond memories of pilgrimages home with the Upchurch sisters. Living in Franklinton, they shared rides home, with their hometowns just some sixty miles apart.
The cream of the crop, Frances and Marilyn, born in 1934 and 1941, respectively, were the daughters of Robert H. and Maude Fulcher Upchurch. Their siblings were John Oakley Upchurch, Nancy Upchurch (Neal), and Elizabeth Ann Upchurch.
By the time I knew Ms. Frances and Ms. Marilyn, they were married and residing in Franklinton - friends of my mother and mothers of my friends. The confluence of the Upchurch sisters - talented ladies - in my hometown. Ms. Frances came into my young life before Ms. Marilyn. She wed Percy Mac Frazier in December of 1955, and the couple had two daughters - Patri (Gast) and her older sister Faith (Bahm), a basketball star in our day - who grew up in the Frazier homes in East Acres. With Mr. Percy Mac with Southern Natural Gas, the Fraziers moved to Franklinton. Close in age, Patri and I were playmates before we even began school, and our mothers were good friends. We enjoyed one another's company and celebrated birthdays together. And in 1970, when I entered first grade at Bowling Green - in the old bowling alley - Patri, who was in second grade, and I became the first mascots for the Bowling Green School varsity football team. An honor that I'll always remember, a tide of memories.
A long-time educator, Ms. Frances taught fourth grade at Bowling Green then. Teaching school for a total of twenty-nine years, she had a significant influence on a legion of lives. Students learned more in her classroom than reading, writing, and arithmetic. This, Rev. Percy M. Frazier poignantly wrote in 1989, "She taught values and discipline, and a favorite motto in her classroom was, 'This classroom will maintain an atmosphere where learning can take place.'" In my humble opinion, this should be the motto in every classroom in our country, today.
With resolve, Ms. Frances educated from the heart, sharing her joy and teaching her students values that lasted a lifetime. I wish that I had been in that number. She was a member of the Beta Rho Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, the Washington Parish Association of Educators, and the Louisiana Association of Educators.
Before Bowling Green, Ms. Frances was already, in 1959, a teacher at Franklinton Elementary School where she taught with many well-known locals. They included, but were not limited to, the following: Mrs. Tom Ford, Mrs. Avis Jenkins, Mrs. Glyn Robinson, Mrs. Hazel Richardson, Mrs. Martha Ware, Mrs. Zula Swetman, Mrs. Aylene Sanders, Mrs. Mary Wallace, Mrs. Udine Jones, Mrs. Bea Garrett, Mrs. Lillie Mae Pettitt, Mrs. Gladys McMillan, Ms. Glenda Smith, Ms. Genevieve Newman, Mrs. Ruby Welch, Mrs. Bennola Brock, Mrs. Mildred Rochelle, Virgil Knight, Ms. Flora Burris, Bruce Welch, R. L. Bolton, and George McKenzie. A superb selection of educators.
An active member of Centenary Methodist Church, Ms. Frances was well known in the choir and United Methodist Women. Favorite hymns which she mellifluously sang at church and for weddings and funerals were "His Eye Is on The Sparrow," "O Holy Night," "The Lord's Prayer," and "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," just to name a few. How I recollect Ms. Frances's beautiful voice and her focus on family. And she was a preacher's wife, a natural fit for her Christian spirit.
Civically, Ms. Frances was a member of the Zoning Commission in Franklinton. And I have fond memories of the shindigs she hosted. Gracious and congenial, Ms. Frances knew how to throw a beautiful party. And color me lucky, I often made it on the guest list. How well I remember the pretty pre-nuptial party she gave, at her lovely home, for friend Vanda Simmons Upton (I was her maid of honor) nearly four decades ago. Gathering all of us young ladies not all that long before her leave-taking, Ms. Frances knew just how to make everyone feel welcome. I can see, and hear, her to this day - elegant and soft-spoken.
Fortunately for us, Ms. Frances embraced Franklinton from the beginning. As early as the summer of 1960, she was the co-hostess with Mrs. Stephen Richardson at the home of Mrs. Frank L. Richardson where a coffee was held, honoring bride Mary Linda (Mrs. David) Steinwinder, the daughter of Gladys Richardson McMillan with whom Ms. Frances taught school. As described in "The Era-Leader," "this occasion…contributed acceleration to Franklinton's social calendar of the late summer." It was written that yellow gladioli and bronze tapers "set the scene." Ms. Frances brought a bounty of beauty and joy to Franklinton. I think it was in her genes.
But lamentably, it's always later than we think. Ms. Frances passed away November 24, 1989, leaving a host of family - husband Percy Mac Frazier and daughters Patri (Larry) Gast and Faith (Kip) Bahm together with her adored grandchildren; sister Marilyn Upchurch Moore with husband Duke in addition to their other siblings; nieces Kelli and JoJan Moore and many other kin - and a host of friends to mourn her loss.
•Stay tuned for Part 2, next week, of the Upchurch sisters.
