Nelson, Frances Louise Swartz 84, a resident of Montgomery, passed peacefully in her sleep on May 20, 2024. Frances was preceded in death by her loving husband Leonel Nelson, her parents Charles and Gertrude Swartz, brother Bill Swartz, son-in-law Sandy Stringer and her grandson William Richardson IV. Frances (or Cuffie as she was known by family and close friends) is survived by her daughter Leslie Stringer, grandchildren Morgan Stringer Symons (Matthew, Merritt) and Bishop Stringer.

Cuffie was born in St. Louis, MO on August 4th, 1939. She lived in a small rural town, Columbia Illinois until she left for the University of Illinois, where she graduated with a degree in Business and Language. Upon graduation, she was eager to explore the world, so she got a grant that sent her to Chile to teach English to children in the copper mines. It was there that she met the love of her life, was married, and became pregnant with her only child.

Upon their return to the United States Cuffie became a teacher at Cahokia High School helping many students hone their reading and writing skills while making many life-long friends in the process. She moved on to become a successful saleswoman in the construction industry when there weren’t many women in that industry – one of her proudest accomplishments was when she was nominated and served on the Board of the National Maritime Council. She moved into Advertising and Marketing when the family moved to Montgomery, AL. For the next few years, she held sales positions in local radio and then spent 40 years in the Ad Agency business. Her time with Davenport Moorhead was definitely the highlight of her career. She loved it and the people she worked with, literally until she passed away, still worried about whether the ads were running at the correct times and that the spreadsheets were being done correctly!

Cuffie loved deeply and devoted much of her time to rescuing Scotties and making sure that her favorite animal was always homed with a loving family. She and my father spent many years with at least 2 and sometimes 4 Scotties at a time! There was always a “come as you are” open door policy at her house. She loved it when the house was filled with people laughing, telling stories, having a good glass of wine and exceptional food. All were welcome because her friends were as much family as the family was. She even did a little match making during her celebrations! She loved reading, cooking, flowers, gardening, her work and most especially life! She was a glass “half full” person and for that she naturally drew people into her inner circle. She was a natural born listener and would help anyone with anything if it didn’t involve running or sweating! She was a life-long yoga practitioner which fits perfectly as she was namaste before any of us knew what that meant.

She will be missed by all that knew her as she was larger than life. It was and is difficult to say good-bye to someone who truly changed the world for the better, so for now, we will just say until we see you again Cuffie…we LOVE you!

A celebration of life will be forth coming, in the meantime in lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made in Frances’ name to the American Lung Association – lung.org.

Final care entrusted to Davis Memorial Mortuary of Valley, AL.