Butterfield Residential Care Center's Butterfield Express June 2016

Butterfield
EXPRESS

Volume 27, Issue 6

June 2016

Butterfield Residential Care Center is an affiliate of CMH, Bolivar, Mo., 417-326-6000
Facility Location: 1120 North Butterfield, Bolivar, Mo. 65613, 417-326-5200

INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Resident of the Month

1

Activity Photos

2

Upcoming Events

3

Residents’ Birthdays

4

New Residents

4

Discharges

4

from
all of us at
Butterfield
Residential
Care
Center.

Fran Benner,
Resident of the Month
Congratulations to Fran Benner on being
selected as the Resident of the Month. Frances
“Fran” Leah was born on February 9, 1921, in
Fort Collins, Colo., to George and Mary Etta
Bullard. She had two older brothers and two
older sisters. Fran was 10 years younger than
her youngest sister. Fran visited the top of
Pike’s Peak before she could walk! When she
was six years old, Fran and her family moved
to Independence, Mo., where her father worked
as a grocery merchant. During the Great Depression, he had to close his store and move the
family to a farm, but persevered and reopened
the store as the Depression waned. He didn’t
close his last store until he was 90 years old.
After graduating from Independence High
School, Fran attended Graceland College in
Lamoni, Iowa. It was there that she met her
future husband, Mel Benner, who was captain
of the college football team. After graduation,
Mel and Fran were married on September 1,
1940. During the first couple of years of their
marriage, they lived Sioux City, Iowa, (Mel’s
hometown) before eventually moving to Independence, Mo. They were married for more
than 60 years. Sadly, in 2003, Mel passed
away.
During their years together, Fran and Mel
were blessed with two wonderful children;
Sharon and Steve. Sharon, and her husband,
Bill, live at Lake Pomme De Terre. Steve and
his wife, Debbie, live in Independence, Mo.
Fran has three living grandchildren. Her grandson Bill passed away when he was twenty years
old. She also has five great grandchildren and 3
great-great grandchildren.
For many years, Mel worked as a methods
engineer for General Motors. During this time,
Fran had various jobs, but retired from a long
career in the Mid-Continent Public Library’s
Accounts Payable Department, where she oversaw a one million dollar budget. While working
at the library, Fran developed a relationship
with President Harry Truman and his wife,
Bess. They loved to read and visited the library

frequently. Bess would explore the library,
while the President waited in the car,
where books were personally delivered to
him.
After retirement, Mel and Fran moved
to Pomme De Terre Lake and were very
active in the community. Fran enjoyed her
days working at the Wheatland Senior
Center. The couple enjoyed traveling, but
the most memorable trip was when they
went to Bermuda and the airline lost their
luggage. Fran had to wear her sister-inlaw’s hot pants!
In 2014, Fran moved to Butterfield.
Today, she enjoys playing Bingo, Scrabble
and Skip-Bo. Last year, she was honored
as the Butterfield Queen at the Missouri
Healthcare Association’s Beauty is Ageless Pageant. Her fun-loving personality
brings much joy to all around her.
Thanks so much for sharing your story
with us Fran. We are blessed you are a
part of the Butterfield family.

Are you a caring individual who would like to assist in caring for the elderly? Butterfield Residential Care
Center has opportunities in its volunteer program. For more information call Tammie Martin, BRCC
Administrator, today at 417-328-6380.