Frances Head was a very persistent and determined woman. She lived almost 104 years, dying 6 weeks from her 104th birthdate. This persistence characterized her life as she came of age during the Depression and took the only available job of teaching in a one room schoolhouse near her hometown in Missouri. At that time one could teach with just a high school education. Determined to get a college education, she attended college for 15 summers to obtain both her undergraduate and master's degree in education. She enjoyed teaching the 5th and 6th grades the most. She managed to include travels to California, Colorado and New York at the end of these summers. During the war years of rationing she became the driver of the high school basketball team and insisted on polite behavior in her car. Also in the 1940s she obtained a teaching job in St. Louis where she eventually met her husband. Despite getting married in her mid thirties, she had three children in 4 years. After raising kids, she enjoyed traveling with her husband. Determined to the end she stayed in her own house until the time of her death.