Frances Ravenel Weeks

Frances Ravenel Weeks, a daughter of Charleston, S.C. who came north, raised a family and was beloved for her warmth, kindness and wit, died on Aug. 16 at her home in Cohasset, Mass. She was 97 and had outlived her husband, the former Massachusetts state senator William D. Weeks, by exactly one year.

Frances, known as Fanfy in childhood, to friends as Franny and to her grandchildren as Hanny, was born in Charleston to a French Huguenot family with deep roots in the region. But her father's work in the often-tumultuous textile industry took the family first to Morganton, N.C. and later north to Scarsdale, N.Y., where she grew to love New York City. When her parents moved south again, she finished high school at Chatham Hall, a girls' school in Virginia, and graduated from Smith College.

It was at Smith that she met Bill Weeks, a Harvard student, on a blind date to a football game arranged by her classmate Beatrice Weeks, Bill's younger sister. After graduation, they went their respective ways, and Frances returned to Charleston, working as a teacher and a medical secretary. But at the urging of family and friends, she and Bill rekindled their relationship and were married on a sweltering June day in 1953 in a historic Charleston church. The couple settled in Charlottesville, Va., while Bill finished law school. They moved to Medfield, Mass., and in 1957 to Cohasset, where they spent the rest of their lives, raising four children and a pair of corgis, followed by two golden retrievers. Frances loved music, with a particular fondness for old musicals and classical tenors, closely followed current events, and enjoyed volunteer work at the Deaconess Hospital and the Cohasset Garden Club. She gamely joined in her husband's devotion to Boston sports teams, sticking with them through highs and lows.

Her southern-tinged speech was rich with old-fashioned expressions. A nap was a "lily-white party." If someone tried to interrupt a story, she declared, "Don't cut the monkey's tail!" Even in her final years, as she bore with grace the failure of her memory, she always had a warm smile and affectionate word for visitors and caregivers, and she sometimes surprised and delighted her family with sharp, often hilarious quips. A few years ago, she turned with a conspiratorial smile to one of her grandchildren and declared, "You have to be pretty smart to be as confused as we are!"

Frances, who for decades never let a family birthday or anniversary pass without sending a card, is survived by her four children, Frances P. Weeks of Baltimore; Margaret D. Weeks of Waltham, Mass.; William D. Weeks Jr. of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.; and Charles S. Weeks of Fort Washington, Pa.; six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Frances' memory to the Norwell VNA and Hospice, 120 Longwater Dr., Norwell, MA 02061 or online at https://www.nvna.org/charitable-fund. A memorial gathering in Cohasset will be planned for the fall.