Fran Byers

After a long battle with cancer, Fran Byers died on April 18th, 2015 in her home in Las Vegas, NV at the age of 68. She was preceded in death by her husband, James Edward Byers. She leaves behind her daughter, Gretchen Byers; her granddaughters, Breanna and Jamie Tavernini; her nephew, Tom Marinko; and the Ya-Ya sisters: Paula Anderson, Teresa O’Keeffe, Judy Gunderson, Carol Matz, and Sharon Heflin (who passed away six hours after Fran). Fran was born on December 15th, 1946 in Cleveland, OH to Frank L. Erzen and Vera J. Erzen. She grew up in Cleveland and went to Athens, OH for college and received a Master’s Degree. She met her husband, James Edward Byers, at Ohio University. They were married on December 13th 1969. Fran moved to Las Vegas in 1978 where she began her 30-year teaching career. She started her career at Dell H. Robinson Junior High school as a science teacher. She then moved to become a high school history and anthropology teacher. Towards the end of her career, she worked as a Curator for The Museum Without Walls. After she retired from Clark County School District she became the director of the Mojave Max Program, where she would travel to different schools and give awareness of the desert and desert animals. Fran has requested to be cremated. Her cremated remains will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery alongside her husband, James Edward Byers. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 at 4:00pm at Palm Mortuary, 1600 S. Jones Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89146. All are welcome to attend. There will be a gathering at her house to celebrate her life after the memorial service. The family would especially like to thank Debbie Brady and Patty Daly for their excellent and loving care during the last couple of months being in hospice care. Also we would like to thank Palm Mortuary for helping the family set up with the memorial service, as well as helping out with the planning and paperwork of Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers for Fran, please make donations to any charity benefiting animals.