Mrs. Frances D. Gant

Frances Delphine Morgan Gant was born on September 15, 1927. She spent her first nineteen years in Plant City, Florida, running through her father’s strawberry fields with a salt shaker and twirling a baton in her high school marching band. She married her high school sweetheart, Frederick “Freddy” DeShonge Gant, Jr., on February 19, 1947. With Freddy newly in the Marine Corps, she moved to California. They had four children: Frederick “Rick” DeShonge Gant, III (1952), Kenneth Morgan Gant (1953), Timothy Michael Gant (1959), and Nancy Darlene Gant (1964). As a Marine Corps wife, Frances lived in California, North Carolina, Illinois, and Tennessee. She was proud of her Captain in the Marine Corps and active as a military wife; when he retired from active service, they settled in Georgia.

As a mother, Frances was dedicated to her children’s activities. She spent many Friday nights cheering on Rick, the drum captain in band, and Ken, the fleet-footed football and track star. Tim and Nancy enjoyed the same attentions when they were in the marching band. Nancy also had her mom’s constant support as a Miss Georgia contestant; Frances hand-glued rhinestones on Nancy’s costume for her talent performance. From volunteering as a Cub Scout den mother to baking tasty treats for PTA bake sales to chaperoning band trips, Frances was an involved and supportive parent.

Frances was also an asset to her community. She organized dozens of Red Cross blood drives, served in the Red Cross as a volunteer nurse, and welcomed people to Mt. Paran North Church of God as a volunteer greeter. Every Halloween would find her in her driveway handing out hot beverages to parents of trick-or-treaters. Her practical, down-to-earth nature blessed many in her family, neighborhood, and community.

Frances passed peacefully on December 30, 2022 in Canton, Georgia, in hospice care. She was preceded in death by her parents William and Ada Morgan, her brother David Eugene Morgan, and her sister Gladys Morgan Oberly. She lost her beloved Freddy in 2006, and she lost her two oldest sons Rick (2009) and Ken (2013) prior to her passing.

Frances is survived by her son Timothy Michael Gant, Sr. and her daughter Nancy Darlene Gant Trott. She had nine grandchildren: Frederick DeShonge Gant IV, Joshua David Gant, Daniel Paul Gant, Leslie Morgan Gant Walker, Mersia Ada Gant Martin, Timothy Michael Gant, Jr., Abraham Roberts, Layla Nichole Trott, and Grace Noel Trott. She had 14 great-grandchildren. She was loved and will be missed.