Obituary of Frances Helen Carver

Frances Helen Budd Carver was born on August 28, 1918 at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron , Ohio to parents William and Emma Budd, the third of their five children. The Budd family lived at 573 N. Howard Street.. " 573," an special number to Mom! Mom attended Samuel Finley Kindergarten. Until last year, she could tell us that teacher's name. What she admired about the teacher was lessons on saving money. Every Monday the students were asked to bring in their extra pennies. The teacher put them in the bank and returned the money with interest at the end of the year, teaching lessons about saving along the way. Mom went to St. Martha's Grade School on Tallmadge Avenue. She and her sister, Marge walked or rode their tricycle, one tricycle, to school. One girl sat and peddled; the other stood on the back of the bike and pushed. A couple living across the street from the school offered their garage to park the tricycle during school hours, and that they did. The girls, Marge and Fran, were Gram's helpers from an early age which continued through the years. On Saturday mornings, one cleaned the upstairs while the other cleaned downstairs. Then they traded jobs the next Saturday. Emma Budd had a group of lunch loving, card playing friends who called themselves The Pandora Club. When the ladies of the Pandora Club arrived, the girls helped serve the lunch and dessert Gram made. They then cleared the table before the afternoon card began. When winter came and the girls carried the ladies' hats and coats to an upstairs bedroom to lay on a bed. What the women didn't know was that Marge and Fran played dress up with their coats, admiring themselves in the bedroom mirror. Mom was raised with a work ethic that continued throughout her life. The Great Depression began. Money was tight. A cousin told a story he heard about a man, Ben Schecter, who owned a grocery store on Merriman Rd. at Market Street. Gram baked cakes for the store. This gentleman sold the cakes to his customers and gave Gram groceries in return, a barter system! Word spread of the delicious Budd cakes and customer base began for Gram's future bakery. The ladies of the Club encouraged Gram to start a cake shop in her home…and that is exactly what she did. With the help of Gram's Uncle Fred Lansinger and his son the house was made ready for a cake shop. Mom and her sister had a new job. They cracked and separated crates of eggs every Friday night beginning in 1929 when she was 11 years old in preparation for the cakes soon to be made. The girls, Marge and Fran, also woke a little early before school to grease and flour the pans for the day's baking. Gram's helpers they were for years to come. Over the years mom learned to mix and decorate cakes. When in high school at St. Vincent's during lunchtime, she and her sister delivered cakes to the downtown lunch counters and restaurants.. Then they went back to school for afternoon classes. In her St. V. yearbook, the prediction for her future was…BAKER! The word chosen to best describe Mom…CLEVER. And that she always has been! Mom loved to ice-skate and roller skate. She loved to dance, too! She was great with those 30's and 40's Big Band sounds at Summit Beach and Myers Lake. We can only imagine her on the dance floor. She said she did that "roll over the back and through the legs of her partner" move! The bakery was always there with work to be done. Deliveries were made to West Hill homes, some of those large and beautiful homes on the west side of town and areas beyond. Mom met Dad where she worked after graduation at the Greyhound Bus Station News counter downtown Akron. Dad rode a motorcycle, but never a Harley. "Those are for the rough crowd," he said. Mom took up riding too. She still has her motorcycle helmet, a leather cap that kept her hair from flying in her face but provided no protection. What did her parents think of this? Off she went to motorcycle rallies and hill climbs. Mom and Dad married in 1940. The motor cycle interest led to many friendships and to her own club of women who met monthly to play Poker for almost sixty years. She and Dad traveled to Japan for business, to Costa Rica, and through the Western U.S by train.With a girlfriend Mom went to Hawaii. Mom has always loved music. She has been able to name every song in a Name -That -Tune sing along before anyone else. Sometime she says she doesn't speak up just to give others a turn. A musician said he had never had anyone ever name every song as she did one day last year at St. Ed's. Mom and Dad had five children. She was a stay-at-home Mom, and during those years she still contributed to the bakery which was now run and owned by her brother ,Jack. She made roses at home for the wedding cakes. She worked at the bakery Saturday mornings decorating birthday cakes and sometimes in the evening she cut and served the cakes at wedding receptions. A little extra money was good, and she even went out on the dance floor occasionally!! Mom was a seamstress extrordinair!. She made her own wedding gown which she still has it. She made dresses and coats for her daughters, a First Communion dress, too. She made most beautiful prom dresses for her daughters. One of this dresses she copied from an advertisement in a magazine., Mom was ,creative, talented, energetic, and clever!!! When the youngest of her children was five years old. she went to work outside the home. The first job, Montgomery Ward in the Coat Department. She tells how she would try on the coats and model them for customers. She sold more coats than anyone in the department!!! ( Does that remind you of the afternoon with the Pandora ladies coats?). Next job, Montgomery Ward on Gilcrest Road selling appliance maintenance contracts. She was good at that, too! After 10 years at Montgomery Ward, she moved on to the front desk at the orthopedic doctors' offices on Market Street for 25 years where she had a pleasant greeting for everyone and would call those behind in their payment to encourage payment if only $5 a month. She was very proud to work for Dr. Ivan Gradisar and others. When the office moved to the current location in Bath, Crystal Clinic, twenty-five years had passed, Mom decided to start a new career at age 57. Real estate! Then off to the University of Akron for classes. She always wanted to go to college, and this was it. She became a Realtor and enjoyed selling houses for 31years. Once the sale led to having a garage sale for the sellers She retired at age 88! That work ethic, challenge, enthusiasm and energy paved the way for all she accomplished. Mom was a member of St. Paul's Ladies Guild. She is proud of the fact that she organized several consecutive card parties always with a name and a theme for each. Her most proud accomplishment related to the Ladies Guild and St. Paul's Church was being named Woman of the Year for NCCW, the National Council of Catholic Women. Oh yes, She belonged to other clubs and organizations during that time in her life. She drove to Bingo in East Akron once a week with her Firestone Park friends, She belonged to the Federation od Women's Clubs, Firestone Park Seniors and Primetimers, and more. Mom also volunteered at the Roadrunner Marathon in Akron, helped at the Hardest Park annual Art Fest, and even in her 90's worked at the voting booth. Mom didn't sit still…and she always said, "Never turn down and invitation." .Mom loved to drive and continued to drive until she was 95. She started at an early age,12, before driver's licenses were required. That's what she said! Her last car was her grand favorite…a beautiful ten year old white Cadillac. She took care of her cars. White wall tires were standard. Into her 90's she personally scrubbed those "whites" while the car sat in the garage at home. Never did she want to be seen with dirty smudges on her whitewalls! She also took care of her passengers who loved the smooth cushy ride. When the Cadillac was prepared for sale, she found eleven umbrellas in it, one for every passenger and more. The Oldsmobile before that was 18 years old when she traded it for the "Caddy". After real-estate, she retired. She moved in with her daughter for seven years. She broke her hip on New Year's Eve Day when her leg buckled as she attempted to get off a stool at the kitchen island .(Remember she worked for Dr. Ivan Gradisar, now retired, his son Ian performed the hip surgery. She moved into Greenview, an assisted living facility, and less than two years later broke her other hip. From rehab she moved to The Village of St. Edward three years ago. Mom had a lucky streak at times. Among her winnings was a ride in the Goodyear blimp and took her five children for the trip over Akron."573," that special number, her home address on Howard Street became her "Pick Three" lottery number. She had a strategy for when to buy "573 Boxed and Straight" In her 90's she won a couple hundred dollars on each of three wins! This is a brief one hundred year history written from the stories our mother told us from the life of the amazing, clever, energizing, quick thinking, quick witted , talented, inquisitive, fix-it-if you can, appreciative, Frances Helen Budd Carver.

The family will receive friends Thursday, January 17, 2019 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Anthony Funeral Home Kucko-Anthony-Kertesz Chapel, 1990 S. Main St., Akron. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday, January 18, 2019 at 11:00am at St. Paul Catholic Church, 1580 Brown St., Akron OH 44301. Interment Rose Hill Burial Park. Donations may be made to the Village of St. Edward or the Christ Child Society.