Avis de décès de Frances-Lambert-Russell-Moody Newman - Nécrologie - MesAieux.com

FRANCES LAMBERT RUSSELL MOODY NEWMAN November 4, 1906 - August 10, 2003 Present and future generations of Texans lost a great friend Sunday morning upon the death of former Chairman of the Board of the Moody Foundation and international philanthropist Frances Moody Newman. Frances was highly respected and renowned for many reasons, as an inspiration to her boys, as a young widow who survived and gained worldwide prominence, as a World War II uniformed women's auxiliary worker, as the leader of two major charitable foundations, and, for decades, as the right hand of the Moody family's key business patriarchs; but, more important, she was loved and admired by persons she knew in all stations of life, chiefly because she treated everyone the same. She had exquisite manners, dressed properly for every occasion, and was gracious in all interactions, especially with people not as prosperous as others. Long-time Moody executives and lawyers have many good humored stories about the late Mrs. Newman, but one of their favorites is about her insistence that company cars were American manufactured, practical, and not flashy. Frances Newman never forgot her late father-in-law's advice (W.L. Moody, Jr.) during the depression of the 1930's, at a time of poverty and hunger in the United States, that Moody Family members should never flaunt their good fortune. At the same time, she introduced the more conservative, traditional Moodys to a wider circle of friends; thereby offering her sons, Shearn and Bobby, a more enriched life. Often gathering at intimate receptions hosted by Frances Moody Newman were General Douglas and Jean MacArthur, Bob and Mildred Considine, The Reverend Billy and Ruth Graham, Walter and Betsy Cronkite, and actress Elizabeth Taylor and her parents. Close friends and family members unanimously agree that no matter what the task was, Frances would make a success of it. "What she did, she did well," stated several lifetime associates. Frances Lambert Russell was born in Parsons, Kansas in 1906. Her father was a medical doctor and her mother, a civic leader, in a Midwestern railroad and agriculture town ideal for a Norman Rockwell illustration. Parsons was and is today a city small enough to have a strong sense of community yet big enough to support arts centers, museum, arboretums, park systems, and excellent schools including Labette College. It was this environment that helped spawn the sophistication and dignity within the young Frances, who would later feel at home in the highest circles of society anywhere she journeyed. Her formal education included public and parochial schools in Kansas, Ward Bellmont in Nashville, Tennessee, Hockaday School for Girls, and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She met Shearn Moody, Sr. in 1930, and the beautiful, young Frances swept the theretofore business-focused 35 year old bachelor off his feet; and on August 26, 1931, they were married. Shearn Moody, Sr. the youngest son of Galveston-based American National Insurance Company's founder, W.L. Moody, Jr., died of pneumonia just five years later in 1936 leaving Frances a widow with two toddlers, Shearn Jr. and Robert Lee. The couple had also lost a son in childbirth. In 1953, Frances Moody married British industrialist Augustus James Newman and thereafter maintained homes in England, Monte Carlo, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida where she was involved in numerous philanthropic endeavors such as her favorite, St. Mary's Hospital. Mr. Newman died in 1977 after 24 years of their marriage. Frances Moody Newman was preceded in death by her parents, a brother U.S.N. Admiral Benjamin Russell; an infant son; and her oldest son, Shearn Moody, Jr. She leaves behind a large and extended family of people who loved and adored her including her youngest son, insurance and banking magnate Robert Lewis Lee Moody and his wife, Ann McLeod Moody; grandsons: Robert L. Moody, Jr. and wife, Ingrid, Russell Shearn Moody and wife, Kristi, and Ross Rankin Moody; granddaughter and namesake, Frances Anne Moody Dahlberg and husband, Kevin; as well as by marriage: E. Vince Matthews, III and wife, Cindi, Lea McLeod Matthews, Allan Watkins Matthews and wife, Lori, and Dorothea Powell "Dotsy" Matthews Balentine and husband, Jay. She is also survived by her beloved great-grandchildren: Frances Ingrid Moody, Robert L. Moody, III, Elizabeth Lee "Elle" Moody, and Jackson Davis "Jack" Moody; and, by marriage: William Charles McLeod "Will" Matthews, Katherine Leanne "Kit" Matthews, Lauren Anne Balentine, Tiffany Nicole Bastow, Kimberly McLeod Matthews, and Marissa Ann Matthews. Memorial services will be held at 10:00 AM Thursday, August 14, 2003 at Malloy and Son Funeral Home, 3028 Broadway, Galveston, Texas with the Rev. Ronald Pogue, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church officiating. Burial will follow at the Moody Family Mausoleum at Galveston Memorial Park Cemetery in Hitchcock, TX. Visitation will be held on Wednesday (TODAY), August 13, 2003 in the Malloy and Son Funeral Home from 5:00 - 7:00 PM. Memorials may be sent to Moody Gardens, Inc., One Hope Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77554; or to the charity of one's choice. Pallbearers will be grandsons: Ross Rankin Moody, E. Vince Matthews, III, Allan Watkins Matthews, Robert L. Moody. Jr., Jay Balentine, and Kevin Dahlberg. Honorary pallbearers are Russell S. Moody, R. Eugene Lucas, and Walter Kiebach, and all the wonderful women and men who represent the Moody interests. The Moody Family would like to thank special caregivers Martha Spence, Juliet Jacobs, and Zena Rosa for their devotion to Mrs. Newman. Malloy & Son Funeral Home3028 Broadway Galveston, TX 77550(409) 763-2475