Frances B. Dyer

Frances Barbara Barrett Dyer passed away peacefully on July 25, 2024 after a long illness. She was a joy to all who knew her and her kindness, patience and zest for life will be dearly missed by her children, grandchildren, family and friends.

Fran was born in Michigan and always looked back with great nostalgia on her idyllic childhood on Sunnyside Farm in Caledonia. After her father’s death, she moved with her mother back to Detroit where she worked for Detroit Diesel. One of her fondest memories of this time was the three month cycling trip she took to Europe with a group of similarly adventurous girlfriends.

In 1959 she married the love of her life, Don, and put him through his last year of college as they began their life together which was to last nearly 64 years. Don’s career in the automobile industry took them and their family to Atlanta, Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama, and Largo, Florida before they settled in Kansas City in 1977. Wherever they landed, Fran quickly made the new house a home with her sewing skills and artistic flair. She and Don were renowned for their hospitality and their home was always open to their many friends.

Throughout her life, Fran was known for her curiosity about the world. She was intensely creative and was a skilled painter and photographer. Many of her works reflected her love of nature and the outdoors. She had an eye for capturing beautiful landscapes and noticed beauty in the smallest flowers, rocks and insects. Fran also loved music, particularly Scottish music and was an accomplished harpist.

During their marriage, she and Don indulged their love of travel, particularly to Don’s birthplace, Scotland. They often organized trips for groups of their friends to hike, tour and enjoy each other’s company. Anyone who was lucky enough to join them on one of these trips would never forget the wonderful experience.

Family was important to Fran and she was a wonderful mother and grandmother to her three children, Libby, Doug and Heather and to her eight grandsons. She particularly enjoyed taking her grandsons on nature walks, sewing elaborate Halloween costumes for them, and taking them to art museums to discuss the works they saw. She was a regular, cheering them on at their activities, whether basketball games, soccer games or concerts.

A memorial service will be held for Fran at St. Peter and All Saints Church, 100 E. Red Bridge Road, Kansas City, MO, on Saturday, August 24 at 11:00 am. She will be laid to rest with Don at Leavenworth National Cemetery.