A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 20, 2024 at 11:00AM at Quamba Baptist Church in Quamba, MN for Frances Taylor who died on May 31, 2024, at the age of 97 and a half.  Reverand Ivan Fiske will officiate, and burial will be at Oakwood Cemetery in Mora, MN next to Lowell "Pap" Johnson.  There will be a visitation one hour prior to the service at the church.

Frances Mae Thorn was born to Julia and Arthur Thorn from Montgomery, Iowa on November 30, 1926.  The family moved to Minnesota several years later and finally settled in the Rock Creek area of Pine County.

Frances was born at the home of her grandma.  She was the first born, followed by Alfred three years later.  Then twelve years later, Arthur (Jim) Thorn was born, followed by Linda Thorn Lindsey twenty-three years after Frances.

Frances graduated from Rush City High School in 1944.  She started her first job in 1945 at Pine City Launderers and Dry Cleaners.  She met "Pap" Johnson while visiting her folks in Quamba, where they owned a business.  Frances and "Pap" were married in 1950.

They bought a small house in Quamba where they lived for 13 years.  They then traded their Quamba home for a rustic home on 40 acres outside of Quamba where they built a new home.  Their three daughters, Julie, Suanne and Betty, had an ideal childhood growing up in a small town in the 1950's and 1960's.  Then moving to the country with room to play and being so lucky to live in a new home.  Frances completed all the painting, staining and varnishing in the new home and had a great flare for decorating.

Frances was a wonderful cook and baker.  Birthdays were very important, and Frances always hosted parties for her daughters, with many friends and relatives attending.  She even made birthday cakes for neighborhood kids and her daughter's friends, opening up her home for many fun get togethers.

Lowell died suddenly in September of 1964.  Frances went to work for Milton Blake Home Builders for a couple of years.  She worked alongside Milton's wife, Janice, who was her sister-in-law.  They painted outside and inside, stained, and varnished new homes.  She also painted for many others in the Mora and Quamba area.

She went to work for Coast-to-Coast Hardware store in 1970.  During that time, she met and married Jim Haan in 1972.  They lived in her home near Quamba for 2 years, then sold it and did a big remodel of Jim's home south of Mora, on Devil's Lake.  Jim died 10 years later, and she continued to live in their home on the lake.  She had a big garden and loved to work outdoors in her flower beds.  The outbuildings were painted beautifully, and the lawn was pristine.

In the summers of 1990 and 1992, she worked in Alaska at a fly-in resort with her friend Liz Orr.  It was the time of her life, and she would tell about her experiences there to anyone who would listen!

Early in 1994, she met Vernon Taylor at a Senior dance in Pine City.  They were married in an outdoor service in August 1994 on the lawn of her lake home. They spent 11 happy years together, living at the lake, traveling, and then living in their townhome in Mora.  Vernon's health declined and when he passed away, she continued to live in her townhome.  In 2014 Frances moved to the Dala Apartments in Mora, where she made new friends, visited old friends and hosted bible studies in her apartment.

Frances accepted Jesus as her Savior when she was 33 years old and was a member of the Quamba Baptist Church for 57 years.  She was the biggest Minnesota Twins fan, she enjoyed family history; she researched and put together genealogy documents for her families heritage.

When her health declined, Frances moved to Eastwood (Assisted) Living in Mora, MN.

Frances was preceded in death by her parents, Julia and Arthur Thorn, infant stillborn daughter, husbands; Lowell Johnson, Jim Haan, and Vernon Taylor, brothers; Alfred Thorn, and Arthur (Jim) Thorn, niece Roberta Norberg, and nephew James Thorn.

She is survived by her daughters; Julie (Jerry) Werner, Suanne (Greg) Kennedy, Betty (Kevin) Pederson, sister Linda (Vic) Lindsey, sister-in-law Virginia Thorn, 8 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.

God bless her memory.