FRANCES CHAIN LAURIDSEN
Frances Chain Lauridsen, age 95, of San Diego, California, formerly of Dedham, died late Monday evening, October 3, 2016 at her home in San Diego.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll with Pastor Dennis Bailey from the First United Methodist Church in Carroll officiating. Prelude music will be by the Belin Quartet: Julie Fox Henson, Linda Swanson, Sherida Josephson and George Work. Music for the funeral service will be by James Poulsen, Jonathan Sturm and the Belin Quartet. . Casket Bearers will be: Aage Lauridsen, Walter Lauridsen, Zach Jones, Jessica Lauridsen, Andrea Jochim, and Christine Sand. Burial will be in the Carroll City Cemetery.
Visitation will be held at the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll on Monday from 5-7 p.m. Additional visitation will be held one hour prior to services on Tuesday at the funeral home.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll and online condolences may be left for Frances’ family at www.sharpfuneral.com.
Frances Chain Lauridsen was born July 26, 1921 in Carroll, Iowa, the first born child of Leo “Doc” Williams Chain and Jessie Eva (Gowen) Chain. Francee made the world a better place through the love that she poured into her family. Doc practiced medicine in Dedham, Iowa for over forty years and delivered many of the babies safely into the arms of families in the area. Jessie would assist Doc on his house calls and while they were delivering newborns, Francee would care for her younger brothers at home. From an early age Francee was a loving caretaker. Her brother Bob remembers her as a “second mother” who took charge of details like ensuring his shoes were shined properly before church.
Francee enjoyed caring for others so much that she decided to make it a focal point of her career. After graduating from Carroll High School, Francee graduated from Creighton University in 1942 with a nursing degree. While Francee attended Creighton she lived with her grandparents Frank “Daddy Frank” Chain and Myrtle Chain in Omaha, caring for them in their house. Francee and Daddy Frank developed a very loving friendship and they would spend hours discussing books and movies, things Francee would enjoy throughout her life.
Francee married Wally Lauridsen on November 9, 1943 in St. Joseph, Missouri, where they eloped. Wally was the son of Danish immigrants, Hans Lauridsen and Christine Clausen-Koch Lauridsen who lived near the Chain residence in Dedham, Iowa. Wally was Frances’ high school sweetheart and he truly swept her off her feet, writing her poems and love letters throughout her life.
When Wally entered the U.S. Navy in 1943 Francee continued her nursing practice and participated in the war effort as a wartime nurse in New York while Wally was in basic training there and later at a hospital in San Francisco. In her own way, Francee followed in Doc’s footsteps during this time. Doc had graduated from Creighton Medical School and interned at San Francisco Hospital in California at the end of WWI. After training, Francee supported Wally’s wartime effort from afar as he served as a Lieutenant in the South Pacific, receiving 25 Bronze Stars. Francee continued supporting Wally after he returned from the war and he helped to found Iowa Beef Processors, Iowa Pork Processors, Madison Foods, Boyer Valley Co., Lauridsen Foods, Inc. and American Meat Protein Co. The family business continues to be privately held and run by Francee’s son Nix and grandchildren as Lauridsen Group Inc., a global business with nearly sixty locations employing more than 2,000 people.
Francee was a devoted mother to her four children. Francee’s brother Bob describes Francee as being truly happy as a married woman caring for her children. After raising three children, Francee and Wally welcomed a fourth child later in life named Pinkee. Francee devoted the rest of her life to Pinkee’s success as a person with up syndrome, the name the family fondly uses rather than Down syndrome. Francee always stressed the importance of learning and all of her children flourished in different specialties.
Warm, magical, caring, loving, hard-working, smart, ornery, generous, beautiful and a perfect wife are some words used to describe Francee. She brought all of these qualities to raising her family and extended family while supporting Wally. Francee read avidly, found joy in finishing a daily crossword puzzle, enjoyed musicals and movies and loved to travel the world side-by-side with Wally. Her favorite movie was Casablanca and her most noteworthy trip with Wally was an around-the-world sailing adventure. Francee lived her life to the fullest and improved the lives of family through love. While she will be missed by many, the legacy of her family will endure, just as she will be loved and honored in our memories.
She will be deeply mourned and lovingly remembered by her children, Signe Kim Lauridsen-Jones, Hans Omar Lauridsen, Nixon ‘E’ Lauridsen and Joanne “Pinkee” Lauridsen; her brother, Robert Charles Chain; her grandchildren, Christine Lauridsen Sand, Andrea Jean Jochim, Walter ‘E’ Lauridsen II, Zachary Lauridsen Jones, Augustine Aage William Lauridsen and Jessica Frances Lauridsen; great-grandchildren, Amelia Jayne Lauridsen, Tait John Sand and Axel Jacob Sand and niece Elizabeth “Bunny” Ellen Chain.
Francee is preceded in death by her parents, Leo “Doc” Williams Chain, M.D. and Jessie Eva Gowen Chain; her husband Walter “Wally” ‘E’ Lauridsen and her brother William Hamilton Chain.
