Frances Susan Seman

Frances Seman, mother of Kimberly Gawlik (Bainbridge Island) and the late Joseph Seman (Alexandria, VA), passed peacefully in her home at Montclair in Poulsbo on Thursday, April 22, 2021.

Fran was born on January 11, 1934 in Duquesne, Pennsylvania to Susanna and Joseph Sikora. She was raised in a happy and loving family with seven siblings. She loved growing up in a house surrounded by so many brothers and sisters and was fond of telling people that she, “was the youngest of the first five!” Fran graduated from Duquesne High School in 1952 and she married Edward Seman of Port Vue, Pennsylvania in 1954. They were happily married until Ed’s death in 1999.

Fran and Ed purchased their home in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Elizabeth Township in 1959 where they raised their children and enjoyed the friendship and companionship of many wonderful friends and neighbors. Fran was a dedicated gardener who insisted on mowing her own lawn well past her eightieth year. Her gardens were always in perfect order and she spent many hours with a cup of coffee sitting on her porch, chatting with neighbors and enjoying the fruits of her labor.

Fran enjoyed picnics beside the best trout streams in Western Pennsylvania, watching her children splash in the water and her husband (patiently) trying to fish. She enjoyed walking in the Pennsylvania woods and taking drives through the rolling hills and countryside. Fran was a lifelong reader and in her later years was never without a book. Her friends at Montclair fondly referred to her as, “the Book Lady.”

Fran is survived by her daughter Kimberly Gawlik (Dennis) and grandchildren Taylor and Graham; her daughter-in-law Karen Tokarsky (Joseph) and grandchildren Emily and Matthew; her Brothers Joseph (Sylvia) and David (Gloria) and sister Carolyn Gambal (Thomas); sister-in-law Bernadette Puskaric (Thomas) and a myriad of nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward, and son, Joseph; brothers William (Martha) and Bernard (Mary) and sisters Valeria Nagy (Stephen) and Rita Allen (Eugene).

The family wants to thank the staff and residents of Montclair for their love and friendship over the last two years and the extraordinary and compassionate caregivers from Home Instead who filled Fran’s final days with so much love and joy.

Friends and family may make donations in Fran’s name to the Bainbridge Island Public Library 1270 Madison Avenue Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.

In honor of Mom, please consider taking a lovely walk, working in your garden, or curling up with a good book.

Arrangements entrusted to Cook Family Funeral Home of Bainbridge Island, WA