Frances Mary Noble

Frances Mary Noble (nee Clark) passed away peacefully January 23, 2024 at age 90. She was born April 4, 1933, in Yakima. Fran led a life full of joys and challenges. She was a very strong woman, charming and thoughtful, who weathered losses and embraced the good times with a sharp sense of humor, always moving forward, and she was a fighter until the end. In her youth, she worked in the hop fields, and alongside her mother Leone in the family cafe in Harrah, Washington. This was during the Great Depression, and as many experienced, it was a difficult time. Fran was preceded in death by her mother, four brothers and two sisters. She met Lyle Noble through his sister Valda, and they fell in love, marrying in April of 1953. Lyle didn’t want to marry a teenager, so he waited until two days after her 20th birthday. They were happily married for 41 years until he passed away in July of 1994. She nursed him lovingly in his declining years. The family moved to Moses Lake in 1960, and lived at the Columbia Basin Trout Hatchery until Lyle’s retirement from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in 1978. Fran was a long time Catalog Manager at JC Penney in Moses Lake until her retirement in 1995. She was active in the Moose Lodge, and was an avid bowler, dart player, and a Den Mother for Cub Scouts. She belonged to the Garden Club and won several blue ribbons at the Grant County Fair for her flowers. She enjoyed young people and delighted in her large extended family. Fran loved family camping trips with her husband and kids. Lyle would secretly pick a location and the family (and dogs) would pile into their station wagon, pulling their tent camper to the surprise destination. They visited the Canadian Rockies, the Pacific Ocean, Montana, Yellowstone, and Central Oregon, to name a few locations. She was a dedicated mother to Terri Williamson (husband Doug) of Moses Lake, Kurt Noble (wife Linda) of Ronald, WA, Tammi Osborn (husband Carl) of Moses Lake, and her late son, Gregory Noble, who passed away in a tragic accident in 1972. She is survived by six grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. Fran loved the ocean and enjoyed visiting both the Oregon and Washington Coasts. She was a great lover of animals and had many dogs and cats, who she cherished. Her death at age 90 was sudden and unexpected but peaceful. She will be missed greatly. She was one of a kind.

Frances Mary Noble

April 4, 1933 - January 23, 2024