Frances J. Wiesner, 92 passed away peacefully on December 18, 2023 in West Des Moines, Iowa. She was born on September 21, 1931 to Wray & Mae (Stansbery) Phillips in Bellflower, Mo. She graduated from Washington High School in Washington, Ia. She married Sidney Holcomb in 1950 & they had three children, Pamela, Jay and Karen. They divorced in 1975. Sid & Frances spent many good times entertaining friends, gardening, camping & fishing.
Frances married Rudi Wiesner in 1977 and moved from Waterloo, IA to Omaha, Ne. She enjoyed two visits to Rudi’s homeland of Germany & many parts of Europe. They enjoyed dancing, camping & fishing. Rudi died in 1982. Frances became a companion to her good friend John Whalen for the next 25 years. Together they enjoyed traveling throughout the U.S. Eventually, they shared a home until John’s death in 2007. She returned to Iowa in 2007 to live closer to family.
Frances loved spending time with family and friends. Her children enjoyed fond memories of her involvement and support in their activities. She was with them on the sledding hills, ice skating rinks, carnival rides, river banks for fishing ventures & the list goes on. She also enjoyed many trips to the Lake of the Ozarks for John’s family reunions. Frances loved to dance, play golf, shoot pool and bowling. She enjoyed board games and card games. She displayed meticulous talent with all types of embroidery, and she was a beautiful seamstress including her bunnies.
Frances was a great cook & always kept a full cookie jar. When the kids were grown, she became employed in the food service industry. She retired from Marriott Hotels & Resorts where she supervised wait staff for fine dining for several years. She was a hostess at the time of her retirement.
Frances was preceded in death by, Sid, Rudi, John, her daughter, Karen Dorius, her son, Jay, her siblings, Dennis Phillips, Shirley Phillips & Bobby Phillips. She is survived by daughter, Pamela Wolf (Kenny) of Des Moines, IA, her siblings, Kathryn Osier of Mt. Pleasant, IA and Kenneth Phillips (Janaan) of Cedar Rapids, IA., Her grandchildren, Chris Stoffregen of Marietta, Ga; Nathan Stoffregen of Las Vegas, NV; Cheyenne Pasquale (Jerry), Katie Holcomb, Jay Holcomb Jr. of Las Vegas, NV, Dr. Amy Dorius and Kelly Dorius of Portland, Or and step Grandson, Ken Wolf, Jr. (Eryn) of Des Moines, IA. To these grandchildren there are ten great grandchildren and many nieces, nephews & cousins.
She is also survived by John’s children of which she shared many memories in their lives and family activities; Kim (Jeff) Nelson, John (aka Kenny) Whalen, Leslie Schlotfeld (Jim Fey), Terry (Chris Ayala), Sandy Anderson & to these were thirteen grandchildren & ten great grandchildren.
Her family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Pine Acres & St. Croix Hospice for their loving care of Frances. Frances was a member of Windsor Heights Lutheran Church in Windsor Heights, IA. A private family graveside service is planned for a later date at Elm Grove Cemetery in Washington, IA.
