Tombstone Tuesday: COLES, Francis

Francis Coles' full grave site.¹

In Loving
Memory
Francis Mary
Coles
1985 - 1978
Rest in Peace

Wife & Mother

Francis Mary "Fay" Harding was born 20 December 1896 to George Harding and Elizabeth (Brunt) Harding of Mells, Somerset, England. The Hardings were farmers and Francis trained as a nurse at Salisbury.

Franics wed Donald Lewis Coles on 2 July 1925 in England. Together they had three children, one son and two daughters.

Francis immigrated to Canada with her new husband in 1925 and in spring of 1928 the family of three, after the birth of their son, returned to England for Don to receive medical treatment for his WWI injury. She then travelled with her husband and son as Donald worked showing tractors across Europe, the Middle East, and Egypt.

Farming in Canada, Francis had adventures in growing Indian hemp for rope (which the Department of Agriculture took a dim view of), reversing up hills in Ford Model T's when the cars were unable to drive up said hills, sewing up neighbours when they lost battles with saws, axes, and other objects, collecting skates for the children in Depression of the the 1930s, handling the farm while her husband Donald fought in WWII, and other pioneer adventures.

Following her husband's death in 1965 Francis learning to drive a car herself and moved from the farm in 1967 to Shellbrook where she resided until her death on 8 March 1978 at age 81 years, 2 months, and 16 days.

Sources
[1]Foxdale Cemetery (Foxdale, R.M. of Shellbrook no. 493, Saskatchewan, Canada; in SW Section 26, Township 51, Range 3, West of the 3rd Meridian), Francis Coles grave markers, photographed by Alanna Carswell, September 2009.
[2]Coles, Cathy, ed. "Don and Fay Coles." Our Harvest of Memories: Foxdale, Sturgeon Valley, Silver Cliff, Three Creeks, Rayside, Rich Valley. Shellbrook: Shell River North Book Committee, 1983. pp. 52-54. Print.