Frances J. Malish was called home to the Lord June 3, 2023 at the amazing age of 101.
Born to Charles Henry Simank and Martha Alvina Melde Simank, Frances Joanna Simank arrived Jan. 11, 1922. She was born at home on the family farm near Thorndale. She was the only child of this union but she had a half-brother, Howard Moerbe, who was 10 years older.
She met her future husband, William (Bill) Marshall Malish, on a blind date. She was seven years his junior and raised in the Lutheran Faith while Bill was raised Catholic. Marrying across denominations was not done in 1940, but Frances, ever the rebel, eloped with him March 14, 1940, in Austin.
Her mom and dad cried when the newlyweds came back from Austin to announce their marriage. Martha wanted a big wedding and a Lutheran son in law, but she came to love her new son-in-law. Nine months later Frances and Bill welcomed their first child, Frances Phyllis Malish.
Frances was a homemaker who followed her husband’s teaching career, which began in 1942 in Granger, where he taught, coached and was highschool principal. After Granger, they moved to Thrall, where he stayed for 15 years as superintendent from 1946-1961. While living in Thrall, their second child, William Kirk Malish was born in 1950.
In 1956, Frances went to work as Bill’s secretary. In 1961, Bill was appointed superintendent of a new district in Webb County located on the outskirts of Laredo. They were there for a year.
In 1962, they went to Universal City where Bill was superintendent. Frances became a grandmother in 1962, at age 40 with the birth of her first grandchild, Melanie Shawn Leschber. From then on, she would be affectionately known as Nonnie.
They lived in Universal City from 1961, until Bill’s unexpected death in 1969, after which Nonnie moved to Austin to be closer to Phyllis and her family. She purchased a home near Phyllis in the newly developed Northwest Hills on the outskirts of Austin.
In the early 70s, Nonnie took a job as a secretary at the University of Texas where she worked until she retired in 1985. She welcomed granddaughters, Shantelle Leschber in 1972 and Shannon Malish in 1973. Three years later, twin grandsons Haven and Sterling Malish were born in Houston.
With their homes less than two miles apart, Nonnie was always over at the Leschber household, so much so that she put down the Leschber phone number for any correspondence. She was a part of every family function, whether that was a piano recital or football game where she would watch her first granddaughter dance and her second granddaughter twirl. She never missed a family event like birthdays and graduations.
Her son Bill moved to Hawaii in 1990, and Nonnie took the opportunity to visit them several times including attending Haven and Sterling’s graduations from medical school in Honolulu.
She loved to travel and joined travel groups to go on cruises and visit exotic places such as Galapagos Islands, Russia, Ireland, Nepal, Alaska, many countries in Europe and Kenya. She traveled to the Holy Land of Israel several times.
The last 20 or so years in her Austin home, she became fond of the wild deer that would come out of the surrounding woods, so much so that several generations of deer would use her back yard to give birth. When told what she was doing was against the law, she replied, “Well if they throw me in jail that will be cheaper than a nursing home.”
She lived in the same ranch house in Austin for over 40 years until shortly after her daughter’s sudden death in 2008.
Later in life, Phyllis would take her to get her nails and hair done weekly. She was still driving to church and bible study well into her upper 80s. Whenever Phyllis would visit her grandkids either in Georgia or California, Nonnie would tag along. She always enjoyed walking up until the last 15 years of her life. The family is grateful for the S.P.J.S.T. Skilled Nursing Facility in Taylor, where Nonnie resided in in her last years. The care and love she received was especially important when Covid prevented her from having visitors for two years.
Nonnie is reunited with those who preceded her in death including her husband, William Marshall Malish; mother and father, Charles and Martha Simank; brother, Howard Moerbe; daughter and son-in-law, Phyllis and Robert Leschber; granddaughter, Shannon Lee Johnson; and great grandson, Brandon Kyle Meals.
Frances is survived by her son, William Malish and his wife Sandy; his children, Sterling Malish and wife Jen of Carmel, California, and Haven Malish and his wife Anna of Bismark, North Dakota; granddaughter, Melanie Sherman and husband Jon of Rancho Mirage, California; Shantelle Grace and husband Tom of Lilburn, Georgia; 12 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Services to honor her life were held Saturday Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 409 Main St. in Thrall. A gathering will follow in the church hall.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made in her name to St. John’s, P.O. Bx 265, Thrall, Texas 76578.
