Frances Holcombe

Frances Holcombe, age 96, of Manhattan, KS and Texarkana, TX, died Monday June 21, 2021.

She was born in Fordyce, Arkansas, to her parents, Carmile and Louis L. Ramsay. She had two brothers, Louis L. Ramsay, Jr. and Rodney Ramsay. Frances attended Fordyce High School and was a member of the National Honor Society. She attended Arkansas State Teachers College, now University of Central Arkansas.

Frances married James Thomas Holcombe in 1946. He had served in WWII as a Master Sergeant in the European theater. He was captured by the Germans and released at the end of the war, returning to Arkansas where he became an Arkansas State Police Trooper. He preceded her in death on December 31, 1987. They were blessed with two children, Jeri Lynn Ragan and Thomas Hayden Holcombe.

Frances started her teaching career in the Texarkana Arkansas Public Schools and while teaching returned to college to receive her Master’s Degree in Special Education. After 10 years in the public schools she started the Texarkana Special Education Kindergarten with six special needs children. Under her guidance the kindergarten has grown into what today is Opportunities, Inc., serving more than 800 special needs children and adults. She was the program director there for 40 years.

Frances served on the Texarkana Beautiful Board, the Texarkana Friends of the Library Board, and was President of the Altrusa Club. In 2014, she was honored by the City of Texarkana with the Frances Holcombe Day! She had many, many friends in Texarkana with whom she worked and with whom she traveled to Europe and the United States. These friends always held a special place in her heart.

She retired at the age of 75, and in October 2014, she moved from Texarkana to Manhattan, KS, and Meadowlark Hills. She was an Ambassador at Meadowlark and in 2018, she received the Margaret Wheat Spirit of Meadowlark Award. After moving into her duplex she added a screened in porch for she and her many friends to enjoy while discussing the worlds’ problems.

Frances is survived by her daughter, Jeri Lynn Ragan and her husband Ken of Chandler, AZ, and her son Thomas Hayden Holcombe and wife Barbara of Manhattan, KS and Scottsdale, AZ. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Matt, Rod and Kasey Ragan, and Rebecca Holcombe Blair and Courtney Holcombe Koenig; and her great-grandchildren: Liam, Barrett and Jasper Koenig, Molly Blair and Rowan Ragan.

Memorials to honor the life of Frances Holcombe may be sent to Opportunities, Inc., 6101 North Stateline, Texarkana, TX 75503, or the Meadowlark Hills Foundation, 2121 Meadowlark Road, Manhattan, KS 66502.