Frances Collingham

Frances Collingham, age 77, of Aurora, died Sunday, April 22, 2001 in Omaha at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 A.M., Wednesday at Messiah Lutheran Church in Aurora. Rev. Al Duminy & Rev. Jim Garfield will officiate. Burial will be at the Aurora Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3 to 8 P.M., Tuesday at Higby Mortuary. The family will receive friends from 3 to 5 P.M. Condolences may be e-mailed to the family through the mortuary website at higbymortuary.com.

OBITUARY: FRANCES COLLINGHAM

Mary Frances Collingham, the daughter of Fred and Wilhelmina Margaret (Pepperkorn) Schafer, was born in Hubbell, Nebraska on December 5, 1923 and died in Omaha, Nebraska on April 22, 2001, at the age of 77 years.

She grew up in Hubbell, Nebraska and when she was little her family moved to Gilead, where she attended school through 11th grade. Frances and her family then moved to Superior, where she graduated from high school. She then moved to York and worked in a café until her marriage.

Frances was united in marriage to Orion "Sarge" Collingham on January 25, 1943 in Beatrice, Nebraska. After Sarge returned home from the Service, they moved to Aurora, where they raised their five children. Frances worked over the years at Inez Café, JC Penny and for the Aurora School system, until she retired to spend the rest of the time at home.

Frances had several hobbies. She loved to raise flowers, paint ceramics, sit on her deck and listen to the birds. She also loved music and to dance, and especially loved to cook for her family and spend time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers and two sisters

Frances is survived by her husband, Orion "Sarge" Collingham of Aurora; five children, Connie Merchant and her husband Roger of Polk; Tom Collingham and his wife Joyce of Aurora, Karen Johnson and her husband Dennis of Polk, Keith Collingham and his wife Bev of Aurora and Larry Collingham and his wife Vicki of Aurora; 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Doris Titman of Aurora and Rose Anderson and her husband Bob of Guernsey, Wyoming and a brother, Rodney Schafer and his wife Aileen of Aurora.