Frances Margaret Holahan "Frankie"

April 14, 2023
In loving memory ~
Frankie liked tea mugs with the colors blue and white and her espresso in white Italian coffee cups. New tea towels brought her joy, as did the simplest pleasures in life. Her garden was an epic collision of colorful dahlias, sweet pansies and the prettiest soft peonies.
A city girl at heart, she had lived on a farm and in small towns, but the place she was the happiest was the home she built for her daughter, her greatest love, Raeanna.
Frankie was a devoted mom. Rae was her miracle baby and her reason for being. From the time she found out she was expecting, Raeanna was the "ray of sunshine" and the reason for her fierce fight against cancer.
Frankie's feisty exterior didn't fool many. Being in her presence for just a short while you would notice how children and animals flocked to her side. She really shone and cast her magic when she was with people with special needs, connecting and giving them her whole heart. Her dog whispering skills famously made her a favorite dog sitter.
Tommy, the "bestest dog ever," her loyal companion passed the previous year and broke Frankie's heart. Tommy accompanied Frankie on her favorite forest walks, and swims in lakes and rivers. Later when both their strengths were fading, gentle strolls along the ocean at Goose Spit fed her spirit and awe of nature.
She was the youngest sister in a big Irish Catholic family. She was so proud of her Celtic roots. Her Irish ways and sayings were epically funny, attributed to her mother and father and the three other Irish families on the small street she grew up on in Kitimat.
Her working career was mostly spent as life guard and fitness instructor, but she was equally adept at slinging beers in the pub, whether in Vancouver or Paris in an Irish Pub during her overseas adventures.
She fancied herself a gypsy, with a love of music and art and bohemian fashion.
So, so many people to thank for their love and support in the past three challenging years.
A special thanks to her "other sister" Krista, her dear friend Claudia, the Kitimat sisterhood and Vancouver girls.
Her amazing medical team Dr. Ed Brooks, Dr. Joe, the BC Cancer Agency, Dr. Maria Smit, Dr. B. Fehlau, Dr. M. Coetzee, Dr. N. Basson, Dr. S. Lombard, the nursing staff with the palliative care team and the incredible hospice staff in Courtenay.
As Frankie would say, "I love your guts!! Squish squish!"
A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday May 27, 2023 from 2pm - 4pm at the Florence Filberg Centre at 411 Anderton Ave, Courtenay, B.C.